女郎花折りも折らずもいにしへを
さらにかくべきものならなくに
さらにかくべきものならなくに
- Roma-ji
-
Ominaeshi ori mo orazu mo inishie o sara ni kakubeki mono naranaku ni
- English Translation
-
The maiden flowers,
whether picked or left unpicked,
the days gone by
are no longer anything
I need hold within my heart
- Meaning
- Whether I picked the maiden flowers or not, the past is nothing I need take to heart again.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Autumn Poems II 350
Headnote: "Reply."
She replies that whether she picked the maiden flowers or not, the past is nothing to be taken to heart again now. She lightly turns aside the man who would stir memories of their former love.
It forms an exchange with the preceding poem, 349, and stands at the end of the book. The book opens with Tsurayuki's poem on autumn mist and closes with Ise's reply concerning the maiden flowers.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, governor of Ise, and served Fujiwara no Onshi, a consort of Emperor Uda. Favored by Emperor Uda, she bore him a son, and later had a daughter, Nakatsukasa, by Prince Atsuyoshi. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and her "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The first line, "Ominaeshi," means "the maiden flowers," answering with the same word as the first line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "ori mo orazu mo," means "whether picked or not," taking up "orikemu" in the preceding poem.
The third line, "inishie o," means "the past," taking up "suginishi kimi" in the preceding poem.
In the fourth line, "sara ni" means "now, anew," and "kaku" is "kaku," to hold in one's heart.
In the last line, "naku ni" means "though it is not": she closes with a sigh that it is not something to be held in the heart.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ominaeshi orikemu sode no fushi goto ni suginishi kimi o omoiide ya seshi
- Next Poem
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Fujibakama kiru hito nami ya tachinagara shigure no ame ni nurashisometsuru