梅の花折ればこぼれぬ我が袖に
にほひ香移せ家づとにせん
にほひ香移せ家づとにせん
- Roma-ji
-
Ume no hana oreba koborenu waga sode ni nioi ka utsuse iezuto ni sen
- English Translation
-
O blossoms of plum,
when I broke you, you spilled down
upon my sleeve; there
lend your fragrance to my sleeve,
a gift to carry home
- Meaning
- O plum blossoms, you spilled onto my sleeve when I broke the branch; pass your fragrance into it, so I may take it home as a gift.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems I 28
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
The poet calls on the plum to pass its fragrance into the sleeve onto which the blossoms spilled when he broke the branch, so that he may take it home as a gift. The elegant spirit of carrying home not the flower but its scent comes through.
The poet, the monk Sosei, was a son of Henjō. He took holy orders and lived at the Urin'in and elsewhere, and was active as a poet in the reigns of Emperors Uda and Daigo. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The first line, "O blossoms of plum," is an address, speaking to the plum as the one who will lend its scent.
The second line, "when I broke you, you spilled down," tells that the blossoms fell when the branch was broken; "nu" marks completion.
The third line, "upon my sleeve," shows the sleeve onto which the blossoms spilled.
The fourth line, "lend your fragrance," is an imperative calling on the plum. Whereas the preceding poem, 27, avoids the scent out of regard for a wife, this one eagerly seeks it for the sleeve, forming a contrast. The poem pauses here.
In the last line, "iezuto" means a gift brought home, and "n" expresses intention.
- Author
- Sosei
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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