何すとか君をいとはむ秋萩の
その初花の嬉しきものを
その初花の嬉しきものを
- Roma-ji
-
Nani su to ka kimi o itowamu akihagi no sono hatsuhana no ureshiki mono o
- English Translation
-
For what reason, love,
would I ever turn from you?
Autumn bush clover,
like its first flowers of the year,
you're a joy to me, a joy!
- Meaning
- Why would I ever shun you? You are a joy to me, like the first blossoms of the autumn bush clover.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2273
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Flowers"
This poem asks how the speaker could ever shun the beloved, who is as welcome as the first blossoms of autumn bush clover. It overlays the fresh joy of the year's first bush clover flowers with the happiness of meeting the beloved. Like 2113 in the autumn miscellaneous poems, which rejoiced at the first bush clover blooming, it sings of the joy of first flowers.
In the first line, "nani su to ka," "ka" is a rhetorical particle: why?
In the second line, "kimi o itowamu," "itou" means to shun and "mu" answers "ka": would I shun you? The poem breaks here.
The third line, "of the autumn bush clover," names the plant.
The fourth line, "its first blossoms," names the year's first flowers.
In the last line, "ureshiki mono o," "mono o" is a conjunctive particle with an exclamatory sense: though you are such a joy.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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