うちはへて春はさばかりのどけきを
花の心や何急ぐらん
花の心や何急ぐらん
- Roma-ji
-
Uchihaete haru wa sabakari nodokeki o hana no kokoro ya nani isoguran
- English Translation
-
On and on it stretches,
spring, so very calm and still,
and yet the flowers—
what can they be thinking of,
hurrying so to fall?
- Meaning
- Spring stretches on so long and calm, yet what are the blossoms thinking of, that they hurry so to fall?
- Commentary
-
Book Three Spring Poems III 92
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Spring goes on so long and calm, yet the flowers hurry to fall, and the poet wonders at their hearts. Setting the leisurely spring against the hasty falling of blossoms, the poem expresses regret for the flowers.
The poet, called "Kiyohara no Fukayabu," is Kiyohara no Fukayabu. He served as a junior official in the Palace Workshops and rose to the Junior Fifth Rank Lower. He was also known as a master of the koto, was the grandfather of Kiyohara no Motosuke and the great-grandfather of Sei Shōnagon, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets of the middle ages.
Ki no Tomonori's poem in the Kokin Wakashū also wonders why, on a spring day of tranquil light, the blossoms fall with such restless hearts, sharing the conceit of this poem.
The first line, "Uchihaete," means "stretching on and on," showing the calm days of spring continuing.
In the second line, "sabakari" means "so much, to such a degree."
In the third line, "o" is adversative: "though it is so calm." 136 of this book likewise speaks of the calm of spring with "nodokekaru beki haru."
In the fourth line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "ran" in the last line. Treating the flowers as persons, the poet asks about their hearts.
In the last line, "ran" conjectures a cause: "why should they be hurrying to fall?"
- Author
- Kiyohara no Fukayabu
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Fuku kaze no sasou mono to wa shirinagara chirinuru hana no shiite koishiki
- Next Poem
-
Waga yado no nageki wa haru mo shiranaku ni nani ni ka hana o kurabete mo mimu