秋の野になまめき立てる女郎花
あなかしかまし花もひと時
あなかしかまし花もひと時
- Roma-ji
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Aki no no ni namameki tateru ominaeshi ana kashikamashi hana mo hitotoki
- English Translation
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In the autumn fields
standing there so coquettish,
maiden flowers all—
oh, what a noisy clamor!
your bloom lasts but a moment
- Meaning
- Maiden flowers standing so coquettishly in the autumn fields, oh, how noisy you are! Your blossoming lasts only a moment.
- Commentary
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Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1016
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Likening the ominaeshi, or maiden flower, to beautiful women, the poet scolds them for their flirtatious display: "ana kashikamashi," what a racket. There is humor in a monk admonishing a crowd of women, and the closing line on the brevity of bloom carries a note of impermanence. From this poem through 1019, four poems on the maiden flower follow in succession.
The author, "Sōjō Henjō," is Henjō. His lay name was Yoshimine no Munesada, and he was a grandson of Emperor Kanmu. He served Emperor Ninmyō and took holy orders upon the emperor's death, rising to the rank of Archbishop. The father of Sosei, he is one of the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "Aki no no ni," gives the setting where the maiden flowers bloom.
Second line, "namameki tateru," uses "namameku," to behave with youthful allure, personifying the flowers as women.
Third line, "ominaeshi," one of the seven flowers of autumn, contains the character for "woman" in its name and so was likened to women. Here it is an address.
Fourth line, "ana kashikamashi," combines the interjection "ana" with "kashikamashi," noisy. The poem breaks after this line.
Fifth line, "hana mo hitotoki," admonishes that the bloom lasts only a moment, ending on a noun.
- Author
- Henjō
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Mutsugoto mo mada tsukinaku ni akenu meri izura wa aki no nagashi chō yo wa
- Next Poem
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Aki kureba nobe ni tawaruru ominaeshi izure no hito ka tsumade mirubeki