春霞立ちな隔てそ花盛り
見てだに飽かぬ山の桜を
見てだに飽かぬ山の桜を
- Roma-ji
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Harugasumi tachi na hedate so hanazakari mite dani akanu yama no sakura o
- English Translation
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O haze of the spring,
do not rise and screen them off,
the flowers in full bloom,
that even as we watch them
never tire us, mountain cherries.
- Meaning
- Spring haze, do not rise and screen them off, the mountain cherries in full bloom that never tire us even as we gaze on them.
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems 42
Headnote: "At the poetry contest held in the reign of Tenryaku between the Consort of the Reikeiden and the Lady of the Wardrobe Chūjō"
The mountain cherries in full bloom never tire the eye even while one gazes at them, so it is a shame for spring haze to rise and screen them off, the poet tells the haze. The regret for flowers one can never tire of is voiced in the forceful tone of a prohibition. According to the headnote, the poem was submitted to a poetry contest held in the Tenryaku era of Emperor Murakami between the Consort of the Reikeiden and the Lady of the Wardrobe Chūjō.
Kiyohara no Motosuke was the grandson of Kiyohara no Fukayabu and the father of Sei Shōnagon. As one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber he took part in compiling the Gosenshū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "harugasumi," begins with the same word as poems 2 and 3 of this book, but here the haze is what screens the flowers.
Second line, "tachi na hedate so," uses the prohibitive "na ... so," and the poem pauses after the second line. It shares the construction of "tachi na kakushi so" in poem 38 of this book.
Third line, "hanazakari," marks the season of full bloom.
Fourth line, "mite dani akanu," with "dani" of inference, means "one never tires of them even while looking," implying how much worse to be cut off from them.
Final line, "yama no sakura o," names last, by inversion, what the poet does not wish to be screened from.
- Author
- Kiyohara no Motosuke
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Yoshinoyama kiesenu yuki to mietsuru wa minetsuzuki saku sakura narikeri
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Haru wa nao ware nite shirinu hanazakari kokoro nodokeki hito wa araji na