Ayamegusa hikitagaetaru tamoto ni wa mukashi o kouru ne zo kakarikeru

English Translation

The iris is pulled—
but on these sleeves, pulled and changed
from all they once were,
longing for the past,
the sound of weeping hangs.

Meaning

On this day when irises are pulled, my sleeves have been pulled into another shape entirely; upon them hangs not the iris root but the sound of my weeping as I long for the past.

Commentary

Book Eight Lament Poems 771

Headnote: "Presented to Kōkamon'in on the fifth day of the fifth month, after renouncing the world upon the passing of Konoe'in."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence remembering the dead through the things of summer, and the opening poem of an exchange. It says that on the day of pulling irises, upon her sleeves, changed by taking holy orders, hangs the sound of weeping for the past. According to the headnote, after Emperor Konoe died she took holy orders, and on the fifth day of the fifth month she presented this poem to Kōkamon'in.
A daughter of Fujiwara no Koremichi, the author became the adopted daughter of Chancellor Fujiwara no Tadamichi and the empress of Emperor Konoe, and later received the title Kujōin. "Kōkamon'in" is Tadamichi's daughter Fujiwara no Seishi, empress of Emperor Sutoku. Emperor Konoe had been raised as Seishi's adopted son, so both women had lost Emperor Konoe.
The scene is the fifth day of the fifth month after Emperor Konoe's death, and the place is not recorded.
The direct occasion is presenting a poem to Kōkamon'in on the fifth day of the fifth month after taking holy orders.
Emperor Konoe died in Kyūju 2 (1155) at the age of seventeen. At the festival of the fifth day of the fifth month, irises were pulled and laid on the eaves, and their roots were hung on sleeves and herbal balls to ward off evil.

The first line, "ayamegusa," is the iris. Taking up "ayame" from the preceding poem, 770, it sets the flower of the festival directly at the opening.
In the second line, "hikitagaetaru," "hiki" is a pivot word meaning both to pull irises and "hikitagau," to change utterly. "Taru" expresses a continuing state, showing that on the day of pulling irises, she herself has taken holy orders and the look of her sleeves has changed.
The third line, "tamoto ni wa," means "upon the sleeves" of one who has taken holy orders. These are the very sleeves on which the festival iris roots ought to hang.
The fourth line, "mukashi o kouru," means "longing for the past" when Emperor Konoe was alive. It is the same phrase as the fourth line of the preceding poem, 770.
In the last line, "ne zo kakarikeru," "ne" is a pivot word meaning both the "root" of the iris and the "sound" of weeping. "Zo" is an emphatic binding particle, completed by the attributive "keru." In place of the iris root that ought to hang on the sleeves, it is the sound of weeping that hangs there. The conceit is nearly the same as the last line of the preceding poem, "ne nomi kakarite," and the two poems stand side by side with overlapping fourth and last lines. The next poem, 772, replies by taking up these "sleeves" and this "ne."

Author

Fujiwara no Teishi

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other