身にかへて花も惜しまじ君が代に
見るべき春の限りなければ
見るべき春の限りなければ
- Roma-ji
-
Mi ni kaete hana mo oshimaji kimi ga yo ni mirubeki haru no kagiri nakereba
- English Translation
-
Though at the cost of life,
I'll not grieve for the blossoms:
in my lord's long reign
the springs that we are to see
are springs that know no limit.
- Meaning
- I will not mourn the blossoms as if my very life were at stake, for in my lord's reign the springs we are to see know no limit.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Felicitation Poems 733
Headnote: "In the same reign, when commanded to compose a poem at the height of the blossoms by the Southern Hall."
This is the second poem of the sequence on blossoms in the reign of Nijō. Since the springs to be seen in the lord's reign are without limit, the speaker will not mourn the blossoms even at the cost of her life. According to the headnote, it was composed in the same reign of Nijō, when she was commanded to compose a poem at the height of the blossoms by the Southern Hall.
The author was a lady-in-waiting of the Palace Attendants' Office who served Emperor Nijō.
The scene is spring at the height of the blossoms in the reign of Nijō, and the place is before the Southern Hall of the palace.
The direct occasion is the command to compose a poem at the height of the blossoms by the Southern Hall.
The Southern Hall is another name for the Shishinden, and the Cherry Tree of the Left Guards was planted in its front court.
The first line, "mi ni kaete," means "in exchange for my own life." This strong expression, "even at the cost of life," presents the convention of mourning blossoms.
In the second line, "hana mo oshimaji," "ji" expresses negative intention: "I will not mourn." The sense breaks after the second line, in inversion with the lower verse.
The third line, "kimi ga yo ni," means "in my lord's reign." It repeats the first line of the preceding poem, 732, so the two poems celebrate the same reign.
The fourth line, "mirubeki haru no," means "of the springs we are to see." It takes the same form as "aubeki haru no" in 713 in this book, looking ahead to springs to come.
The last line, "kagiri nakereba," means "since there is no limit." Since spring returns without limit, there is no need to mourn falling blossoms; the poem directs the reasoning of the enduring reign against the convention of mourning blossoms. Whereas 713 in this book gave the abundance of springs as the reason to gaze on falling blossoms to the full, this poem turns the same reasoning toward not mourning them. 738 also closes with the same last line.
- Author
- Mikawa no Naishi
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- On the evergreen pine where it hangs, the moss upon it— since it is such moss, of the long cord of the years a guide it is, so I think.
- To meet with the reign of my lord is to everyone a source of great joy, yet the blossoms in their colors have let it show so plainly.
- All under heaven, the plants and trees now budding, far as eyes can see— knowing no bounds, stretching on, the ages of this reign to come.
- Everywhere alike buds swell on trees in springtime, a pale, tender green— but in the pine alone the hue of a thousand ages dwells.