春日野に多くの年はつみつれど
老いせぬものは若菜なりけり
老いせぬものは若菜なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Kasugano ni ōku no toshi wa tsumitsuredo oisenu mono wa wakana narikeri
- English Translation
-
On Kasuga Plain
for so many years I have
gathered and grown old,
but the one thing never aging
is the young greens of the spring.
- Meaning
- On Kasuga Plain I have gathered greens and piled up many years, yet the one thing that never grows old is the young greens themselves.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 20
Headnote: "Upon viewing young greens"
For many years young greens have been gathered on Kasuga Plain while the gatherer has grown older, yet the greens alone remain young year after year. This imperial poem overlays piling up years with picking young greens, setting age against youth. According to the headnote, it was composed upon viewing young greens.
The poem, styled an imperial composition of the En'yū Retired Emperor, is by Emperor En'yū. A son of Emperor Murakami, he was the sixty-fourth emperor.
First line, "kasugano ni," names Kasuga Plain in Nara, famous for gathering young greens. Like the hills of Kasuga in poem 3 of this book, it sings of the Kasuga area.
Second line, "ōku no toshi wa," expresses many long years.
Third line, "tsumitsuredo," is a pivot word combining years that "pile up" and greens that are "picked." "Tsure" is the perfective form of the completion auxiliary "tsu," and "do" is a concessive conjunctive particle.
Fourth line, "oisenu mono wa," in contrast to the aging speaker, names the thing that never grows old.
Final line, "wakana narikeri," pairs the "young" of "wakana" with "aging" in the fourth line, while "keri" expresses discovery. Poem 26 of this book likewise ends with "wakana narikeri."
- Author
- Emperor En'yū
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Nobe mireba wakana tsumikeri ube shi koso kakine no kusa mo harumekinikere
- Next Poem
-
Haru no no ni asaru kigisu no tsumagoi ni ono ga arika o hito ni shiretsutsu