常盤なる日陰のかづら今日しこそ
心の色に深く見えけれ
心の色に深く見えけれ
- Roma-ji
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Tokiwa naru hikage no kazura kyō shi koso kokoro no iro ni fukaku miekere
- English Translation
-
Ever green, unchanging,
the vine of sunless shade—
today, of all days,
how deep it seems to show
the color of my heart
- Meaning
- The ever-green hikage vine, today of all days, seems to show deeply the color of my heart for you.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Love Poems III 735
Headnote: "Sent to the Eldest Daughter of Kan'in from the place of the Gosechi dances."
The poet says that today the evergreen hikage vine seems to show deeply the color of his heart. He entrusts the depth and constancy of his love to the unchanging green of the vine that the Gosechi dancers wore in their hair.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to the Eldest Daughter of Kan'in from the quarters of the Gosechi dances. The next poem, 736, is her reply.
The poet, listed as "Moromasa no Ason," is thought to be Fujiwara no Morotada. A son of Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira, he rose to Minister of the Left.
The first line, "Tokiwa naru," means "ever unchanging in color."
The second line, "hikage no kazura," is the trailing club moss called hikage no kazura, worn on caps or in the hair as an ornament at the Gosechi, the Niiname Festival, and other rites.
The third line, "kyō shi koso," means "today of all days," with "shi" an emphatic particle and "koso" an emphatic binding particle.
The fourth line, "kokoro no iro ni," means "as the color of my heart," likening the vine's green to the color of his heart. The fourth line of the next poem, 736, "iro o tokiwa ni," answers by taking up "tokiwa" and "iro" from this poem.
The last line, "fukaku miekere," means "seems so deep," closing with the perfective "kere" in answer to "koso" in the third line, a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Morotada
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tsurakaranu naka ni aru koso utoshi to ie hedatehateteshi kinu ni ya wa aranu
- Next Poem
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Tare to naku kakaru ōmi ni fukakaran iro o tokiwa ni ikaga tanoman