Karakoromo tachikawarinuru haru no yo ni ika de ka hana no iro o miru beki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

唐衣たちかはりぬる春の世に
いかでか花の色を見るべき

Roma-ji: Karakoromo tachikawarinuru haru no yo ni ika de ka hana no iro o miru beki
English Translation: Like Chinese robes, cut
and changed anew, the springtime
world has turned—in it,
how could I bear to look upon
the colors of the blossoms?
Meaning: In a springtime world now changed, as robes are cut and changed anew, how could I look upon the colors of the blossoms?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1484

Headnote: "Reply."
This is the second poem of the sequence on summer, Jōtōmon'in's reply to Fujiwara no Michinaga's poem in the preceding poem. In a world changed by her father's renunciation, she asks, how could she look upon bright colors, conveying her grief at his taking the tonsure.
The author, "Jōtōmon'in," is Fujiwara no Shōshi. The daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, she became empress of Emperor Ichijō and bore Emperors Go-Ichijō and Go-Suzaku.

The first line, "karakoromo," takes up "karakoromo," the first line of the preceding poem, just as it is. Through its association with robes, it leads to the following "tachi."
In the second line, "tachikawarinuru," "tachikawari" plays on cutting robes anew and the world's changing. It inherits the wordplay on "tachi" from the preceding poem.
The third line, "haru no yo ni," refers to the world changed by her father's renunciation. It takes up "haru no iro" of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "ika de ka hana no," uses the rhetorical "ika de ka," "how could." Taking up "hana no tamoto ni," the second line of the preceding poem, it turns the colors of the blossoms back as a question.
The last line, "iro o miru beki," closes with the attributive form "beki" in response to the particle "ka." In a world where her father has cut away colors, she alone cannot look on bright ones; she answers the father's heart entrusted to the robes with grief.
Author: Fujiwara no Shōshi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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