紫の雲にもあらで春霞
たなびく山のかひは何ぞも
たなびく山のかひは何ぞも
- Roma-ji
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Murasaki no kumo ni mo arade harugasumi tanabiku yama no kai wa nani zo mo
- English Translation
-
Not the purple clouds
of good fortune, but spring haze
only trailing past—
in the hollow of such hills,
what, then, is the worth to be found?
- Meaning
- Not the auspicious purple clouds, but only spring haze trailing across the hills—what worth, then, could there be in such a mountain hollow?
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1448
Headnote: "Reply."
This is the second poem of the sequence on the spring haze, Retired Emperor En'yū's reply to Fujiwara no Kaneie's poem in the preceding poem. He turns Kaneie's words back on him, asking what worth there can be in a mountain hollow where only spring haze trails, and not purple clouds.
The author, "the Poem of Retired Emperor En'yū," is Emperor En'yū. A son of Emperor Murakami, he succeeded to the throne on the abdication of his elder brother, Emperor Reizei, and later yielded it to Emperor Kazan.
In the first line, "murasaki no kumo ni mo," the "purple clouds" are auspicious clouds regarded as a good omen, sometimes likened to the rank of empress.
The second line, "arade," uses the negative conjunctive particle "de," meaning "not being purple clouds."
The third line, "harugasumi," takes up "harugasumi," the first line of the preceding poem, just as it is.
The fourth line, "tanabiku yama no," takes up "tanabikiwataru" and "yamabe" of the preceding poem. The emperor answers by taking in Kaneie's words one by one.
The last line, "kai wa nani zo mo," answers "kai mo arikere," the last line of the preceding poem, by asking what that worth might be. It uses the same wordplay on "kai," and "zo mo" expresses a strong question.
- Author
- Retired Emperor En'yu
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Harugasumi tanabikiwataru ori ni koso kakaru yamabe no kai mo arikere
- Next Poem
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Michi no be no kuchiki no yanagi haru kureba aware mukashi to shinobare zo suru