At my dwelling,
waves of wisteria bloom;
people turn back,
unable to pass them by,
and linger only to gaze.
- Meaning
- At my home, the wisteria blooms so beautifully that people turn back and cannot help but linger, unable to pass it by.
- Commentary
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Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)
A poem composed upon seeing people stop and gaze at the wisteria blooming at the poet’s residence.
Without elaborate conceit, it simply depicts the scene as it is—suggesting that the wisteria must have been truly splendid.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- If there were no wind to blow, nor valley streams to carry them, how could we ever see the blossoms hidden deep in the hills?
- Wisteria blooms, cling to those who merely gaze and then turn away; even if your tender branches should break in the doing.
- Do they even now bloom in radiant beauty, as once they did— the kerria blossoms at Tachibana’s isle-bound cape?
- In spring rain, its radiant hue delights beyond all weariness; and more than that, how dear is the scent of kerria blossoms.