鶯のなかむしろには我ぞ鳴く
花のにほひやしばしとまると
花のにほひやしばしとまると
- Roma-ji
-
Uguisu no nakamu shiro ni wa ware zo naku hana no nioi ya shibashi tomaru to
- English Translation
-
In the warbler's place,
where it ought to sing its song,
it is I who cry,
hoping that the blossoms' charm
might linger here a while.
- Meaning
- In place of the warbler that should be singing, it is I who cry, hoping the beauty of the blossoms may stay a little while.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Names of Things 424
Headnote: "Nakamushiro (middle mat)"
The poet says that in place of the warbler that should be singing, he himself cries, hoping the beauty of the blossoms may stay a little while. Entrusting his regret for the falling flowers to the figure of one who weeps in the warbler's stead, the poem hides the name "nakamushiro" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "nakamu shiro" in the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.
First line, "uguisu no," means "of the warbler." It echoes the warbler's robe of blossoms in 414 of this book through the pairing of warbler and flowers.
Second line, "nakamu shiro ni wa," means "in place of its singing," with "mu" conjectural and "shiro" meaning substitute. It hides the name "nakamushiro."
Third line, "ware zo naku," means "I cry," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "naku." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "hana no nioi ya," means "the beauty of the blossoms," with "ya" expressing a question.
Final line, "shibashi tomaru to," means "in hope it may stay a while," giving by inversion the reason for the third line.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Sukemi
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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