秋の菊にほふかぎりはかざしてむ
花よりさきと知らぬ我が身を
花よりさきと知らぬ我が身を
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no kiku niou kagiri wa kazashitemu
hana yori saki to shiranu waga mi o - English Translation
-
while autumn chrysanthemums
shine in all their fragrance,
I shall wear them—
for I know not my own life,
if it end before these flowers
- Meaning
- While the autumn chrysanthemums are in full bloom, I shall wear them in my hair—for I do not know whether my life may end before the flowers.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)
A poem composed upon seeing chrysanthemums while reflecting on the impermanence of this world.
From the legend that the dew upon chrysanthemums grants long life, wearing the flowers is an act of wishing for longevity. Yet the poet, feeling death close at hand, expresses a sense of futility in adorning oneself with them.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- gazing on the flowers, while I wait for one to come— white as fine cloth sleeves, so I thought them and mistook what I saw before my eyes
- thinking it but one, this chrysanthemum I saw— in Ōsawa pond, even on the pond’s deep floor, who could have planted it so?
- if I must pluck them, then at random I shall pluck— first frost has fallen, confusing all before my eyes, white chrysanthemums alike
- changing now its hue, this chrysanthemum of autumn— within one short year, twice it blooms and gives its scent, so I see it as such