Lotus leaves that grow
unstained within muddy waters,
keeping a pure heart—
why then do they, with the dew,
make it seem a shining gem?
- Meaning
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Though lotus leaves grow in muddy water without being stained, why do they, with such a pure heart, make the dew upon them appear like a jewel and thus deceive?
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed upon seeing dew upon lotus leaves.
Though the lotus remains unstained in muddy water, symbolizing purity, the dew upon its leaves appears like a jewel, as if deceiving the eye. The poem reflects a sensibility shaped by Buddhist thought, in which the lotus holds deep symbolic meaning.
- Author
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Sojo Henjo
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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Is it of old times
that it still feels such longing,
the cuckoo that cries—
it comes to my former home
and sings there, as once it did?
-
Though it is not I,
the cuckoo, among deutzia,
cries as it flies on—
as if through this weary world,
it wanders in sorrow like me.
-
In a summer night,
still thinking it early eve,
dawn has already come—
in what part of the clouds now
does the moon find its lodging?
-
Since the day it bloomed,
I have thought not even dust
should settle on it—
this pink, like one I sleep with,
dear as my beloved one.