白露は分きても置かじ女郎花
心からにや色の染むらん
心からにや色の染むらん
- Roma-ji
-
Shiratsuyu wa wakite mo okaji ominaeshi kokoro kara ni ya iro no somuran
- English Translation
-
The white dew, surely,
makes no distinction as it falls—
the maiden flower
takes its color, I think,
from its very heart within.
- Meaning
- Surely the white dew makes no distinctions where it falls—the maiden flower must take its color from its own heart.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1568
Headnote: "Reply."
This is the ninth poem of the sequence expressing personal feelings through the things of autumn, Fujiwara no Michinaga's reply to Murasaki Shikibu's poem in the preceding poem. Surely the white dew does not settle with distinctions, he says; the maiden flower must be dyed its color by its own heart.
The author, "the Hōjōji Lay Priest, Former Regent and Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Michinaga. The son of Fujiwara no Kaneie, he became Regent and Grand Minister, and after taking the tonsure built Hōjōji.
The first line, "shiratsuyu wa," takes up "tsuyu" of the preceding poem.
The second line, "wakite mo okaji," uses the negative conjectural "ji," meaning "it surely does not settle with distinctions." It answers by denying "tsuyu no wakikeru" of the preceding poem.
The third line, "ominaeshi," is the same word as "ominaeshi," the first line of the preceding poem. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "kokoro kara ni ya," means "from its own heart," and the particle "ya" expresses a question.
The last line, "iro no somuran," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "ya" with the attributive form "ran." Beauty comes not from the dew's favor but from one's own heart, he says, answering Murasaki Shikibu's humility by praising her spirit and encouraging her.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Michinaga
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ominaeshi sakari no iro o miru kara ni tsuyu no wakikeru mi koso shirarure
- Next Poem
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Yamazato ni kuzu haikakaru matsugaki no hima naku mono wa aki zo kanashiki