万代をふるにかひある宿なれば
みゆきと見えて花ぞ散りける
みゆきと見えて花ぞ散りける
- Roma-ji
-
Yorozuyo o furu ni kai aru yado nareba miyuki to miete hana zo chirikeru
- English Translation
-
Since this is a house
worth passing through ten thousand years,
as a deep snowfall
and a royal progress seen,
the blossoms have scattered down.
- Meaning
- Because this is a house worth dwelling in for ten thousand ages, the falling blossoms seemed both a deep snowfall and a royal progress.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1453
Headnote: "Composed on seeing the blossoms scatter at the Kaya-in."
This is the third poem of the sequence on the cherry. Because this is a house worth living in for ten thousand ages, the scattering blossoms look like a deep snowfall and like a royal progress. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the blossoms scatter at the Kaya-in.
The author, "Higo," was a lady-in-waiting and poet of the late Heian period.
The Kaya-in was a magnificent mansion built by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, later also used as a temporary palace.
The reply of the Nijō Regent and Palace Minister to this poem is placed as the next poem.
The first line, "yorozuyo o," refers to endless ages, a phrase celebrating the prosperity of the house.
In the second line, "furu ni kai aru," "furu" plays on "furu," to pass through years, and "furu," for snow to fall, making it an associated word with "miyuki" in the fourth line.
The third line, "yado nareba," adds "ba" to the perfective form to state a fixed condition: "because it is a house."
In the fourth line, "miyuki to miete," "miyuki" plays on "miyuki," deep snow, and "miyuki," an imperial outing. Likening the falling blossoms to snow, it shows a splendor fit to welcome a royal visit.
The last line, "hana zo chirikeru," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "zo" with the attributive form "keru." Rather than regretting the falling blossoms, it takes them as a celebration of the house's prosperity.
- Author
- Higo
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ori ni ko to omoi ya suran hanazakura arishi miyuki no haru o koitsutsu
- Next Poem
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Edagoto no sue made niou hana nareba chiru mo miyuki to miyuru naruran