秋の野に宿りはすべし女郎花
名をむつまじみ旅ならくに
名をむつまじみ旅ならくに
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no no ni yadori wa subeshi ominaeshi
na o mutsumajimi tabi naraku ni - English Translation
-
In autumn fields now
I shall take my lodging here—
maidenflower blooms;
dear its very name to me,
though I am not on a journey.
- Meaning
- Though I am not traveling, I shall lodge in the autumn fields, for the name of the maidenflower is dear to me.
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
Composed for a poetry contest at the residence of Prince Koretada.
Ordinarily, one would not stay overnight in the fields unless on a journey. Yet the poet, charmed by the name “omina” (maiden) in maidenflower, resolves to lodge among the autumn blossoms.
“Mutsumajimi” derives from “mutsumajii” (dear, affectionate) with the suffix “mi,” indicating reason.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- Drawn by but the name, I only plucked you, maiden-flower— speak not, I implore, tell no one that I have fallen so low as to be thus ensnared.
- Maidenflower there— with distaste I pass it by, going on my way;— for it stands upon Mount Otoko, so it seems to me indeed.
- If I should lodge there in fields where maidenflowers bloom in great numbers, without cause, a fleeting name would surely rise about me.
- Maidenflowers sway in autumn fields, bent by the wind— so too her heart;— to whom, I wonder, does she give that single, wayward heart?