かれずともいかが頼まむなでしこの
花は常盤の色にしあらねば
花は常盤の色にしあらねば
- Roma-ji
-
Karezu tomo ikaga tanomamu nadeshiko no hana wa tokiwa no iro ni shi araneba
- English Translation
-
Though it never wither,
how could I put my trust in it?
The nadeshiko—
its blossoms are not the hue
of the ever-changeless green
- Meaning
- Even if it never withers, how could I rely on it? The nadeshiko's blossoms are not of an evergreen, changeless hue.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Love Poems II 699
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet asks how he could rely on the nadeshiko even if it does not wither, since its blossoms are not of an evergreen hue. Receiving the preceding poem's pledge of unchanging love, he expresses that he cannot yet fully trust it, for a flower's color will fade in time.
It is a reply to the preceding poem, 698, taking up its "karesenu" and "nadeshiko no hana" to retort. It is the last poem of this book; the poems of first courtship that began with the opening poem, 601, close here with a poem that questions the constancy of the heart.
The poet, called "Minamoto no Moroakira Ason," is Minamoto no Moroakira. A grandson of Emperor Uda and a son of Prince Tokiyo, he served as Middle Counselor.
In the first line, "kare" is a pivot word joining flowers that "wither" and people who "drift apart," taking up "karesenu" in the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "ikaga tanomamu," is rhetorical: "how could I rely on it?" The poem pauses here.
The third line, "nadeshiko no," means "the pink's," taking up the last line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "hana wa tokiwa no," means "its blossoms, of the evergreen," with "tokiwa" meaning eternal, unchanging.
The last line, "iro ni shi araneba," means "since they are not of that color," with "shi" an emphatic particle. It is inverted with the first two lines.
- Author
- Minamoto no Moroakira
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Oku tsuyu no kakaru mono to wa omoedomo karesenu mono wa nadeshiko no hana
- Next Poem
-
Na ni shi owaba ausakayama no sanekazura hito ni shirarede kuru yoshi mo gana