いにしへのにほひはいづら桜花
こけるからともなりにけるかな
こけるからともなりにけるかな
- Roma-ji
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Inishie no nioi wa izura sakurabana
kokeru kara to mo narinikeru kana - English Translation
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Where now can it be,
The fragrance of long ago—
O cherry blossoms?
Though once in full bloom, today
They have fallen into moss.
- Meaning
- Where has the beauty and charm of long ago gone? Like cherry blossoms that have scattered and fallen into the moss, it has become a pitiful sight.
- Commentary
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62. The Fragrance of Long Ago
There was a woman whom a certain man had not visited for many years. Perhaps she was not very perceptive; following the unreliable words of others, she had come to serve someone living in the provinces. Without realizing that the man was once her husband, she served him food and attended to him.
When night came, the man said to the master of the house, "Please bring the woman from earlier here." The master brought the woman to him.
The poem was composed by the man after saying to the woman, "Do you not recognize me?"
It is a poem that frankly expresses how a woman who must once have been beautiful has fallen to the position of a servant and now appears in a miserable state. What feelings did the man hold toward her as he recited such a scornful poem in front of her? It may be understood that he no longer felt any strong attachment or lingering emotion.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Other
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- Should one cross the stream Called the River of Dyeing, How could it be so That no color would cling fast To the person passing through?
- If true to its name, Then Tawared Isle must be But vain and inconstant— They say it wears, as a robe, The wet sleeves of the waves.
- Is it truly this— The one who fled from meeting me As wife long ago, Though years have passed since that time, Showing no sign of better?
- Her tresses ninety-nine— One year short of a hundred, All in tangled white— She must still long after me, For I see her in a dream.