朝咲き夕は消ぬる月草の
消ぬべき恋も我れはするかも
消ぬべき恋も我れはするかも
- Roma-ji
-
Ashita saki yūbe wa kenuru tsukikusa no kenubeki koi mo are wa suru ka mo
- English Translation
-
In the morning blooms,
by the evening fades away—
like the dayflower,
such a love as might fade too
it is, I feel, that I live.
- Meaning
- Like the dayflower that blooms in the morning and fades by evening, mine is a love that seems about to vanish.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2291
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Flowers"
This poem sings of a love about to vanish, like the dayflower that blooms in the morning and fades by evening. Like 2281 it uses the dayflower's fragility as a figure for love; whereas that poem felt about to fade as the day waned, this one shows the dayflower's single-day life through the contrast of morning and evening.
The first line, "blooming in the morning," names its opening.
The second line, "fading by evening," is set in parallel with the first.
The third line, "like the dayflower," with the upper lines forming a preface leading into "ke."
The fourth line, "a love that may vanish," names the love.
In the last line, "are wa suru ka mo," "ka mo" is exclamatory, closing with a sigh over fragile love.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Akihagi o chirisuginubemi taorimochi miredomo sabushi kimi ni shi araneba
- Next Poem
-
Akizuno no obana karisoe akihagi no hana o fukasane kimi ga kariho ni