梅の花香をのみ袖にとどめおきて
わが思ふ人は訪れもせぬ
わが思ふ人は訪れもせぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Ume no hana ka o nomi sode ni todome okite waga omou hito wa otozure mo senu
- English Translation
-
The blossoms of plum
leave their fragrance only
lingering on my sleeves;
but the one for whom I long
does not even come to call
- Meaning
- The plum blossoms leave only their fragrance lingering on my sleeves, but the one I love does not even come to visit.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1410
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on broken vows. The plum blossoms at least leave their fragrance on the sleeves, but the one he loves does not even visit. The text gives no author name, and it is arranged as a poem by Narihira continuing from the preceding poem. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Narihira Ason," is Ariwara no Narihira. A son of Prince Abo, son of Emperor Heizei, he was one of the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The first line, "ume no hana," is a spring image sung as a flower of strong fragrance.
The second line, "ka o nomi sode ni," means "only its fragrance, on my sleeves." It says the plum leaves its fragrance even when gone.
The third line, "todome okite," means "leaving it to linger."
The fourth line, "waga omou hito wa," means "the one I love," set against the plum blossoms.
The last line, "otozure mo senu," means "does not even visit." The plum that leaves its fragrance as a keepsake is set against the person who leaves nothing and does not visit. Following the unchanged traces of the preceding poem, this one sings of plum fragrance lingering on the sleeves, placing what remains beside what does not.
- Author
- Ariwara no Narihira
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Idete inishi ato dani imada kawaranu ni ta ga kayoiji to ima wa naruran
- Next Poem
-
Ama no hara soko to mo shiranu ōzora ni obotsukanasa o nagekitsuru kana