見も果てて行くと思へば散る花に
つけて心の空になるかな
つけて心の空になるかな
- Roma-ji
-
Mi mo hatete yuku to omoeba chiru hana ni tsukete kokoro no sora ni naru kana
- English Translation
-
Since I mean to go
only once I've watched them through,
with the falling flowers
my heart, too, goes drifting off
into the empty sky above.
- Meaning
- Since I mean to leave only after watching them to the very end, my heart drifts off into the sky along with the falling blossoms.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 60
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Because the poet means to stay until the flowers have finished falling, the heart is unsettled by each falling petal and drifts off as if into the sky. The wish to see the flowers through to the end overlaps with a heart thrown into confusion by their falling.
First line, "mi mo hatete," means "seeing them through to the end."
Second line, "yuku to omoeba," means "since I think to leave," with "ba" marking an established condition.
Third line, "chiru hana ni," names the falling flowers, taking up the flowers beginning to fall in the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "tsukete kokoro no," means "in response to the falling flowers," showing the heart moved along with them.
Final line, "sora ni naru kana," with "sora" meaning the heart becoming absent and distracted, also resonates with the sky where the petals dance; "kana" is an exclamation.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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