さつきまつ花橘のかをかげば
昔の人の袖のかぞする
昔の人の袖のかぞする
- Roma-ji
-
Satsuki matsu hanatachibana no ka o kageba
mukashi no hito no sode no ka zo suru - English Translation
-
Awaiting the Fifth Month,
when I catch the scent
of orange blossoms,
it is the fragrance
of one long past that comes to me.
- Meaning
- When I breathe in the scent of the orange blossoms that bloom in the Fifth Month, it recalls the fragrance of the sleeves of one from long ago.
- Commentary
-
Book III, Summer Poems
Scenting the fragrant orange blossoms, the poet is reminded of the sleeves of a former beloved, and feels a sense of longing.
In the past, people would perfume their garments with incense, each according to their taste.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- Awaiting the Fifth Month, O mountain cuckoo, beat your wings— and even now, I pray, sing in last year’s voice.
- When the Fifth Month comes, your song will lose its rarity, O cuckoo; before that time arrives, let me hear your fresh young voice.
- Before I knew it, has the Fifth Month come? from the mountain depths, the cuckoo at last now has begun to cry aloud.
- This very morning, having just begun to cry, still on its journey, o cuckoo, pray take rest in my blooming orange tree.