女郎花おほかる野辺に宿りせば
あやなくあだの名をやたちなむ
あやなくあだの名をやたちなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Ominaeshi ōkaru nobe ni yadori seba
ayanaku ada no na o ya tachinamu - English Translation
-
If I should lodge there
in fields where maidenflowers
bloom in great numbers,
without cause, a fleeting name
would surely rise about me.
- Meaning
- If I were to stay in fields where many maidenflowers bloom, I would, without reason, gain a reputation for fickle love.
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
Since the maidenflower is likened to women, spending a night in a field where many bloom suggests, in playful jest, being surrounded by many women. The poem humorously implies that such a stay would give rise to rumors of promiscuity, though nothing has truly occurred.
“Ayanaku” means without reason.
“Ada” refers to something frivolous or associated with fleeting love.
- Author
- Ono no Yoshizai
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Aki no no ni yadori wa subeshi ominaeshi
na o mutsumajimi tabi naraku ni - Next Poem
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Ominaeshi aki no nokaze ni uchinabiki
kokoro hitotsu o tare ni yosuramu