誰見よと花咲けるらむ白雲の
立つ野と早くなりにしものを
立つ野と早くなりにしものを
- Roma-ji
-
Tare miyo to hana sakeru ramu shirakumo no tatsu no to hayaku narinishi mono o
- English Translation
-
For whom, I wonder,
are the flowers blooming here
for someone to see?
This field where the white clouds rise
long ago became their place.
- Meaning
- For whom are the flowers blooming, asking to be seen? This place became, long ago, a field where white clouds rise.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 856
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks the flowers whom they are blooming for, since the one they should be shown to is no more. The field where the dead was laid to rest has already become a field where white clouds rise from the smoke of cremation. The contrast between the lovely blossoms and the field emptied of its person deepens the grief.
The author is unknown.
The first line, "for whom to see," asks for whose eyes the flowers bloom.
The second line, "do the flowers bloom," uses the present conjectural ramu to pose the question. The poem breaks after the second line.
The third line, "white clouds," suggests the smoke of cremation rising as clouds. Where 831 of this book longed for the funeral smoke, this poem sings of the field after the smoke has become clouds.
The fourth line, "already a field where they rise," means it has become so early.
The last line, "it has become," ends with the concessive exclamation mono o, leaving a lingering sense.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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