if I must pluck them,
then at random I shall pluck—
first frost has fallen,
confusing all before my eyes,
white chrysanthemums alike

Meaning

If I am to pluck them, I shall do so at random—the first frost has fallen and made it impossible to tell which are the white chrysanthemums.

Commentary

Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)

A poem on white chrysanthemums.

Because the first frost has fallen and turned everything white, the poet says that it has become impossible to distinguish the white chrysanthemums from their surroundings.

In reality, frost alone would not make the flowers indistinguishable, so the expression may be somewhat exaggerated. It likely serves to emphasize the beauty of the frost-covered scene.

This poem is also included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

“Kokoroate” means guessing at random.
“Madōwaseru” means to confuse or make indistinguishable.

Author

Oshikochi no Mitsune

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

thinking it but one, this chrysanthemum I saw— in Ōsawa pond, even on the pond’s deep floor, who could have planted it so?
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
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
beyond the time of autumn there is yet another prime— chrysanthemum blooms; as their colors fade away, all the more their beauty grows

if I must pluck them, then at random I shall pluck— first frost has fallen, confusing all before my eyes, white chrysanthemums alike

if I must pluck them,
then at random I shall pluck—
first frost has fallen,
confusing all before my eyes,
white chrysanthemums alike