is it a keepsake
of one who lodged here before—
wisteria-robe?
ever breathing forth a scent
so hard for me to forget.

Meaning

Is it a keepsake of the one who once stayed here? The fujibakama continues to give off a fragrance that is hard to forget.

Commentary

Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)

A poem composed on the fujibakama and sent to someone.

Most likely, the person who once stayed at the poet’s dwelling was a woman, and the poem was sent to her. What is hard to forget is not merely the scent of the flower, but the fragrance of her garments scented with incense.

"Katami" here does not mean a relic of the dead, but something that recalls a past encounter.

Author

Ki no Tsurayuki

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

not yet sated with flowers— why should one think to return? maidenflower fair, in this field where you abound I would that I might lie the night.
who might it have been that came and cast off to hang this wisteria-robe? with each returning autumn it scents the fields once more.
a scent without a lord comes drifting forth in fragrance— on autumn fields wide, whose might it be, cast off and left, this wisteria-robe I see?
from this time onward I shall not even plant to see the plume of silver grass— for when its ears emerge in autumn the loneliness grows too deep.

is it a keepsake of one who lodged here before— wisteria-robe? ever breathing forth a scent so hard for me to forget.

is it a keepsake
of one who lodged here before—
wisteria-robe?
ever breathing forth a scent
so hard for me to forget.