せみの羽の夜の衣は薄けれど
移り香濃くもにほひぬるかな
移り香濃くもにほひぬるかな
- Roma-ji
-
Semi no ha no yoru no koromo wa usukeredo utsurika koku mo nioinuru kana
- English Translation
-
Like a cicada's wing
the robe for the night
was thin indeed,
yet the fragrance it passed on
lingers deep and rich.
- Meaning
- The night robe was as thin as a cicada's wing, yet how richly the fragrance it passed to me still lingers.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 876
Headnote: "Composed when returning in the morning the host's robe he had been lent, having stayed at someone's house to avoid an unlucky direction"
Having stayed at someone's house to avoid an unlucky direction, the poet returned the robe his host had lent him the next morning with this poem. The summer robe was thin, but the incense it was scented with passed deeply to him, and he thanks his host for the care of the hospitality.
The author, "Ki no Tomonori," is Ki no Tomonori, son of Ki no Aritomo and cousin of Ki no Tsurayuki. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū but died before its completion. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
First line "semi no ha no" likens the thinness of the robe to a cicada's sheer wing.
Second line "yoru no koromo wa" is the robe worn for sleeping.
Third line "usukeredo" leads with the adversative do into the lower verses, contrasting thinness with the depth of scent.
Fourth line "utsurika koku mo" means the incense in the robe passed onto him; the contrast of thin and deep is the heart of the poem.
Fifth line "nioinuru kana" joins the attributive of the perfective nu with the exclamatory kana, ending in wonder at the fragrance.
- Author
- Ki no Tomonori
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Katachi koso miyamagakure no kuchiki nare kokoro wa hana ni nasaba narinamu
- Next Poem
-
Osoku izuru tsuki ni mo aru kana ashihiki no yama no anata mo oshimu beranari