色香をば思ひも入れず梅の花
常ならぬ世によそへてぞ見る
常ならぬ世によそへてぞ見る
- Roma-ji
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Iroka o ba omoi mo irezu ume no hana tsune naranu yo ni yosoete zo miru
- English Translation
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Its hue and its scent
I do not take into my heart—
the plum blossom I
liken to this world of ours
where nothing lasts, and so I gaze.
- Meaning
- Giving no thought to their color or scent, I look upon the plum blossoms as a likeness of this world, where nothing lasts.
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1445
Headnote: "On seeing plum blossoms."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on the warbler and the plum. Giving no thought to the plum's color or scent, the poet looks upon it as a likeness of this impermanent world. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing plum blossoms.
The author, "the Poem of Retired Emperor Kazan," is Emperor Kazan. A son of Emperor Reizei, he took the tonsure and abdicated after about two years on the throne, and thereafter traveled through the provinces in religious practice as a cloistered emperor.
The first line, "iroka o ba," presents the plum's color and scent. Whereas the preceding poem found in the plum's fragrance something unchanged, this poem gives no thought to either color or scent.
The second line, "omoi mo irezu," means "not taking deeply to heart." It expresses the heart of one who has left the world and does not cling to the plum's beauty.
The third line, "ume no hana," is "ume no hana" placed in the third line, continuing from 1442. The same line recurs, yet the heart with which each poem views the plum differs.
The fourth line, "tsune naranu yo ni," refers to this impermanent world. The plum that blooms and soon scatters is overlaid with the changing state of the world.
The last line, "yosoete zo miru," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "zo" with the attributive form "miru." It shows a gaze turned toward the Buddhist path, viewing the plum blossom as a likeness of the impermanent world.
- Author
- Retired Emperor Kazan
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Momoshiki ni kawaranu mono wa ume no hana orite kazaseru nioi narikeri
- Next Poem
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Ume no hana nani ni niouran miru hito no iro o mo ka o mo wasurenuru yo ni