Why does it so
conceal Mount Miwa—
spring haze?
Are there blossoms blooming there,
unseen by human eyes?
- Meaning
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Why does the spring haze so conceal Mount Miwa? Perhaps blossoms are blooming there, hidden from the sight of men.
- Commentary
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Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)
A poem composed on the theme of spring.
It echoes a poem from the Man’yōshū: “Why does it so conceal Mount Miwa—even the clouds should have a heart and not hide it.”
Mount Miwa, in Sakurai in Nara, has long been an object of worship. The poet imagines that it is hidden by haze because unseen blossoms are blooming there, beyond the reach of human eyes.
- Author
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Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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Flowering trees—
no longer shall I dig and plant them;
for when spring comes,
people take after
their ever-changing hues.
-
Nowhere, I think,
is there a village untouched
by spring’s hue;
yet some blossoms bloom,
while others are not to be seen.
-
Come, today,
let us mingle
in the springtime hills;
even if evening falls,
will there not be blossoms’ shade?
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How long, I wonder,
shall my heart wander,
drawn to the spring fields?
If the blossoms did not fall,
I could spend a thousand years here.