花盛りまだも過ぎぬに吉野河
影にうつろふ岸の山吹
影にうつろふ岸の山吹
- Roma-ji
-
Hanazakari mada mo suginu ni Yoshinogawa kage ni utsurou kishi no yamabuki
- English Translation
-
The full bloom of flowers
has not yet passed, and yet in
the Yoshino River,
mirrored there it fades away,
the kerria on the bank
- Meaning
- Though the height of bloom has not yet passed, in the waters of the Yoshino River the kerria on its banks already seems to fade in its reflection.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Spring Poems III 121
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Though their prime has not yet passed, the kerria on the banks of the Yoshino River already seem to fade in their reflection on the water. In the shifting image on the water's surface, the poet sees the flowers' fading in advance.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."
Ki no Tsurayuki's poem in the Kokin Wakashū likewise says that as the wind blows the kerria on the banks of the Yoshino, even their reflection in the depths fades, using the same scene and words as this poem.
The first line, "Hanazakari," names the height of the kerria's bloom.
In the second line, "nu" is the attributive negative and "ni" adversative: "though it has not yet passed."
The third line, "Yoshinogawa," is a poetic place in Yamato often sung together with kerria on its banks.
In the fourth line, "utsurou" is a pivot word joining "utsuru," to be reflected in water, and "utsurou," for color to fade. The next poem, 122, also uses "utsurou" of the kerria.
The last line, "kishi no yamabuki," ends on a noun, naming the kerria blooming on the banks of the Yoshino.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Waga yado no kage to mo tanomu fuji no hana tachiyoriku tomo nami ni oraru na
- Next Poem
-
Shinobikane nakite kawazu no oshimu o mo shirazu utsurou yamabuki no hana