浅緑深くもあらぬ青柳は
色変はらじといかが頼まむ
色変はらじといかが頼まむ
- Roma-ji
-
Asamidori fukaku mo aranu aoyagi wa iro kawaraji to ikaga tanomamu
- English Translation
-
Pale green is the hue
of the willow, not deep at all;
how then could I trust
the green willow when it says
its color will never change?
- Meaning
- The green willow is only pale green, its color not deep at all; how could I rely on it when it promises that its color will never change?
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 1253
Headnote: "Reply."
This is the sixth poem of the sequence of exchanges among members of the court, a reply to the preceding poem. How can I trust a willow of pale green, not deep in color, when it says its color will not change? she answers.
The author, "Consort Seishi," is the Umetsubo Consort to whom the preceding poem was sent, a daughter of Fujiwara no Norimichi.
The first line, "asamidori," is pale green, the color of a willow just coming into leaf.
The second line, "fukaku mo aranu," means "not deep in color," overlaid with the shallowness of the Emperor's love.
The third line, "aoyagi wa," takes the green willow repeated throughout the four-poem exchange and recasts it as something of shallow color.
The fourth line, "iro kawaraji to," quotes "iro wa kawaraji," the last line of the preceding poem, directly.
The last line, "ikaga tanomamu," is rhetorical: "how could I rely on it?" She turns aside the Emperor's vow that the dyed color will not change, saying a color so pale from the start is nothing to rely on, and so closes the four-poem exchange on the green willow.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Seishi
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Aoyagi no ito wa katagata nabiku tomo omoisometemu iro wa kawaraji
- Next Poem
-
Inishie no aoi to hito wa togamu tomo nao sono kami no kyō zo wasurenu