くちなしの色をぞ頼む女郎花
花にめでつと人に語るな
花にめでつと人に語るな
- Roma-ji
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Kuchinashi no iro o zo tanomu ominaeshi hana ni medetsu to hito ni kataru na
- English Translation
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Gardenia yellow,
mouthless color, I trust you;
maidenflower,
that I was charmed by your bloom,
do not tell it to the world.
- Meaning
- I trust in your gardenia color, which has no mouth to speak. Maidenflower, do not tell anyone that I was charmed by your blossoms.
- Commentary
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Book Three Autumn Poems 158
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Seeing the maidenflower's yellow as gardenia color, the poet asks it, true to the name "kuchinashi" (without a mouth), not to tell anyone that he was charmed by its blossoms. Likening the maidenflower to a woman, the poem is full of wit in wishing to keep his affection for her secret.
The author, called the Ono-no-miya Chancellor, is Fujiwara no Saneyori. The eldest son of Fujiwara no Tadahira, he rose to Regent and Chancellor. Called Lord Ono-no-miya after his residence, he is regarded as the founder of the Ono-no-miya school of court protocol.
First line, "kuchinashi no," is a pivot word in which "kuchinashi" means both the yellow dyed from gardenia fruit and "having no mouth." It likens the yellow of the maidenflower to gardenia color.
Second line, "iro o zo tanomu," means "it is that color I rely on," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "tanomu." The poem pauses here.
Third line, "ominaeshi," is an address to the maidenflower.
Fourth line, "hana ni medetsu to," means "that I was charmed by the flowers," with "tsu" as a perfective auxiliary.
Final line, "hito ni kataru na," means "do not tell anyone," with "na" as a prohibitive particle. Following the preceding poem, in which someone stayed because of the maidenflower's color, this poem asks that color to keep a secret, linking the conceits on color.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Saneyori
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Te mo tayuku ueshi mo shiruku ominaeshi iro yue kimi ga yadorinuru kana
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Ominaeshi niou atari ni mutsurureba ayanaku tsuyu ya kokoro okuran