春雨のしくしく降るに高円の
山の桜はいかにかあるらむ
山の桜はいかにかあるらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Harusame no shikushiku furu ni takamato no yama no sakura wa ika ni ka aruramu
- English Translation
-
With the rain of spring
falling on and ever on,
on Takamato,
the cherries on the mountain:
how are they faring now?
- Meaning
- With the spring rain falling on and on, how are the cherry blossoms on Mount Takamato faring now?
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1440
Headnote: "A poem by Kawabe no Ason Azumahito"
As the spring rain keeps falling, the poet worries whether the cherries on Mount Takamato have been scattered. His heart, watching the rain and turning to cherries on a mountain he cannot see, is expressed simply.
The author, Kawabe no Azumahito, was an official of the Nara period who later served as governor of Iwami, among other posts.
The first line presents the spring rain that sets the situation of the poem.
The second line means "falling on and on." "Shikushiku" expresses ceaseless repetition, and in 1659 of this book the word is used of snow piling up, as a figure for love.
The third line names Mount Takamato in eastern Nara, where the people of the capital enjoyed blossoms and autumn leaves.
The fourth line names the object of his concern.
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "ka" and the present conjectural "ramu," expressing anxiety over how they are now.
- Author
- Kawabe no Azumahito
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Toki wa ima wa haru ni narinu to miyuki furu tōyama no he ni kasumi tanabiku
- Next Poem
-
Uchikirai yuki wa furitsutsu shikasuga ni wagie no sono ni uguisu naku mo