咲けりとも知らずしあらば黙もあらむ
この秋萩を見せつつもとな
この秋萩を見せつつもとな
- Roma-ji
-
Sakeri tomo shirazu shi araba moda mo aramu kono akihagi o misetsutsu motona
- English Translation
-
Had I never known
that it was in bloom at all,
I'd have kept my peace;
but this autumn bush clover
you show to me, all in vain.
- Meaning
- Had I not known it was in bloom, I could have stayed at peace—but you keep showing me this autumn bush clover to no purpose.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2293
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Flowers"
This poem laments that had the speaker not known the bush clover was in bloom, calm could have been kept, but being shown the clover so needlessly makes longing grow, and it closes the group on flowers. The beautiful clover blossoms call the beloved to mind and disturb the heart. Like "moda mo aramu toki mo nakanamu" in 1964, it uses "moda mo aramu" to sing of the lament that nature's beauty instead disturbs the heart.
The first line, "that they had bloomed," names what was not known.
In the second line, "shirazu shi araba," "shi" is emphatic and "ba" marks a supposition: had I not known.
In the third line, "moda mo aramu," "moda" means staying quiet, at peace; the poem breaks here.
The fourth line, "this autumn bush clover," names the flowers.
In the last line, "misetsutsu motona," "motona" means to no purpose, closing with a lament at the clover that disturbs the heart.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Akizuno no obana karisoe akihagi no hana o fukasane kimi ga kariho ni
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Aki sareba kari tobikoyuru tatsutayama tachite mo ite mo kimi o shi zo omou