With azusa bow,
as I crossed the springtime hills,
along the mountain path,
so thickly fell the blossoms
there was no way to pass them by.
- Meaning
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As I crossed the spring hills, the blossoms had fallen so thickly along the path that there was no way to avoid them.
- Commentary
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Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)
Composed upon encountering a large group of women while crossing the mountains of Shiga, and given to them.
Meeting many women on the narrow mountain path, the poet likens them, in their beautiful garments, to blossoms scattering thickly.
Azusa yumi is a pillow word associated with “haru,” playing on both “to stretch” and “spring.”
- Author
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Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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