Te mo furede oshimu kai naku fuji no hana soko ni utsureba nami zo orikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

手も触れで惜しむかひなく藤の花
底に映れば波ぞ折りける

Roma-ji: Te mo furede oshimu kai naku fuji no hana soko ni utsureba nami zo orikeru
English Translation: Not touched by my hand,
in vain I held them so dear,
wisteria blooms;
since they mirror in the depths,
the waves have broken them off.
Meaning: It was no use cherishing the wisteria without even touching it, for its blossoms are reflected in the depths, and the waves have broken them off.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 87

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The wisteria that the poet cherished without picking has been broken off after all by the waves that ripple its reflection in the water. The poem wittily treats the image of wisteria reflected on the surface and shattered by the waves as though the waves themselves had picked the flowers.
The author, written as Mitsune, is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he was ranked alongside Ki no Tsurayuki and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "te mo furede," means "without even touching them," with the negative conjunctive particle "de." It shows that the poet has treasured the flowers without picking them.
Second line, "oshimu kai naku," means "my cherishing was in vain," leading to the unexpected outcome in the second half.
Third line, "fuji no hana," is wisteria blooming by the water. The scene shifts from the wisteria on pines in the preceding poems to wisteria at the water's edge.
Fourth line, "soko ni utsureba," means "since they are reflected in the depths." The next poem, 88, also sings of wisteria reflected in the depths, continuing the pairing of water and wisteria.
Final line, "nami zo orikeru," means "the waves have broken them off," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "keru." The poem closes on the contrast between the person who would not pick the flowers and the waves that did.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
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