Beneath blooming flowers
Many people hide themselves—
So perhaps the shade
Of the wisteria appears
Fairer than it was before.
- Meaning
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Because many people gather and hide beneath the shade of the blossoms in full bloom, the shade of the wisteria seems even finer than before.
- Commentary
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101. Beneath the Blooming Flowers
There was a man named Ariwara no Yukihira who served as the Captain of the Left Hyōe Office. When people heard that there was good sake at Yukihira’s house, they held a banquet there and invited Fujiwara no Yoshichika, the Left Middle Controller who served in the Hall of State at the Seiryōden, as the principal guest.
Yukihira was a man who appreciated elegance, and he had arranged flowers in a vase. The flower was a rare wisteria with clusters nearly a meter long. The people at the banquet each composed poems on the splendid flower as their theme. Just as they were finishing, Yukihira’s younger brother heard that a banquet was being held and came by. They caught him and tried to make him compose a poem as well. The man did not know much about poetry and at first declined, but he was forced to compose one.
Like the others, he composed his poem on the theme of the great wisteria blossoms.
When those present heard the poem, they asked, “Why did you compose it in such a way?” He replied, “I composed it thinking of how the Great Minister of State stands at the height of splendid prosperity, and how the Fujiwara clan flourishes above all.”
The wisteria that appears in the poem is a metaphor for the Fujiwara clan. Because many people follow and gather beneath their power, that power will likely grow even greater. Inviting Fujiwara no Yoshichika as the guest and preparing a great wisteria blossom as the theme of the poems suggests a desire to show favor toward the Fujiwara clan. Seen in that way, the poem may also be taken as gently mocking those who flatter the Fujiwara.
The younger brother of Yukihira who composed the poem was Ariwara no Narihira. Though gifted, he lived in relative misfortune, overshadowed by the power of the Fujiwara clan, and that feeling may be reflected here.
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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