今年より若菜に添へて老いの世に
嬉しきことをつまむとぞ思ふ
嬉しきことをつまむとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Kotoshi yori wakana ni soete oi no yo ni ureshiki koto o tsumamu to zo omou
- English Translation
-
Beginning this year,
along with the spring greens I pick,
in my aging days
many joys I mean to gather,
heaping them up one by one
- Meaning
- From this year on, along with the young greens I gather, I mean to heap up glad things in the days of my old age.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1370
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that from this year, along with the young greens, he means to gather joys in his old age. Drawing on the New Year custom of picking young greens, he sings at the turn of the year of his wish to keep piling up gladness now that he has grown old.
The poet, "the Grand Minister," is Fujiwara no Tadahira. The fourth son of Fujiwara no Mototsune, he served as Regent, Chancellor and Grand Minister, and was posthumously named Teishinkō. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Ogurayama mine no momijiba kokoro araba."
The first line, "Kotoshi yori," means "from this year."
The second line, "wakana ni soete," means "along with the young greens," which were picked and eaten in early spring as a prayer for long life.
The third line, "oi no yo ni," means "in the days of my old age."
The fourth line, "ureshiki koto o," means "glad things."
The last line, "tsumamu to zo omou," is a pivot word on "tsuma," both picking greens and piling up joys, with "mu" intention. "Zo" is closed by the attributive "omou."
- Author
- Fujiwara no Tadahira
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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