花咲きて実ならぬものはわたつ海の
かざしに挿せる沖つ白波
かざしに挿せる沖つ白波
- Roma-ji
-
Hana sakite mi naranu mono wa watatsuumi no kazashi ni saseru okitsu shiranami
- English Translation
-
That which bears flowers
and yet never sets its fruit
is the white-capped wave
of the open sea, worn as
blossoms in the sea god's hair
- Meaning
- The flower that blooms but never bears fruit is the white wave of the open sea, which the sea god wears as a blossom in his hair.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1360
Headnote: "When various people were wandering at leisure by the seashore."
The poet says that what blooms but never bears fruit is the white wave of the offing, worn as an ornament by the sea god. On an outing by the shore, she sees the white waves as flowers in the sea god's hair, playfully calling them blossoms that never ripen into fruit.
According to the headnote, it was composed when people were strolling at leisure by the sea.
The poet, "Komachi," is Ono no Komachi. One of the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, she became a legend for her beauty. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes her poem "Hana no iro wa utsurinikeri na itazura ni."
The first line, "Hana sakite," means "blooming with flowers."
The second line, "mi naranu mono wa," means "what bears no fruit," with an extra syllable.
The third line, "watatsuumi no," means "of the sea god."
The fourth line, "kazashi ni saseru," means "worn as an ornament in the hair," seeing the white waves as flowers.
The last line, "okitsu shiranami," means "the white waves of the offing," ending on a noun. "Flower" and "hair ornament" are associated words.
- Author
- Ono no Komachi
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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