時の花いやめづらしもかくしこそ
見し明らめめ秋立つごとに
見し明らめめ秋立つごとに
- Roma-ji
-
Toki no hana iya mezurashi mo kaku shi koso meshi akirameme aki tatsu goto ni
- English Translation
-
Flowers of the season,
ever lovelier they grow;
just like this, indeed,
our lord gazes and is cheered,
each time that the autumn comes
- Meaning
- The flowers of the season grow ever more wonderful; just so may our lord gaze upon them and brighten his heart each time autumn comes.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4485
Headnote: none. The left note reads: "The above was composed by Ōtomo no Yakamochi."
The flowers of the season grow ever lovelier; just so may our lord gaze and brighten his heart each time autumn comes: a poem blessing the sovereign's reign. The left note attributes it to Yakamochi. Where the two poems before lamented the passing of things, this one turns to the fresh beauty of flowers blooming each season, blessing a reign that continues unchanged year after year.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Senior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.
The first line, "toki no hana," "the flowers of the season," takes up "flowers that bloom" in the preceding poem.
The second line, "iya mezurashi mo," "ever more wonderful," ends the first sentence.
The third line, "kaku shi koso," uses the emphatic koso, resolved by the perfective me in the fourth line: just so.
The fourth line, "meshi akirameme," uses mesu, honorific for "to see," and akiramu, "to clear the heart": our lord will gaze and be cheered.
The closing line, "aki tatsu goto ni," "each time autumn comes," blesses the long continuance of the reign in the yearly return.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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