classic waka stream

紫の雲とぞ見ゆる藤の花
いかなる宿のしるしなるらん
Roma-ji

Murasaki no kumo to zo miyuru fuji no hana ika naru yado no shirushi naru ran

English Translation
Seen as purple clouds,
the wisteria in bloom,
of what house, I wonder,
can these blossoms be the sign
of fortune yet to come?
Meaning
The wisteria blossoms look like purple clouds; of what house, I wonder, can they be the auspicious sign?
Commentary
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1069

Headnote: "For a screen that the Minister of the Left had made for his daughter, the empress"
The poet asks what house's good fortune the wisteria, seen as purple clouds, betokens. The headnote shows it was written for a screen that the Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Michinaga, had made for his daughter, the empress Shōshi. Likening the wisteria to purple clouds, held to be an auspicious sign, it celebrates in the form of a question the rise of an empress from Michinaga's house of the Fujiwara. It shares with the preceding poem, 1068, the device of likening wisteria to purple clouds.
The author, written as "Kintō, Intendant of the Right Gate Guards," is Fujiwara no Kintō. A son of the Chancellor Fujiwara no Yoritada, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor and was called the Shijō Major Counselor. He compiled the Wakan Rōeishū and wrote the poetic treatise Shinsen Zuinō.

First line, "murasaki no," means "purple," taking up "murasaki no" in the third line of the preceding poem, 1068, and the same word as the first line of the next poem, 1070.
Second line, "kumo to zo miyuru," means "seen as clouds," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive "miyuru." The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "fuji no hana," means "the wisteria blossoms," quietly echoing the Fujiwara clan.
Fourth line, "ika naru yado no," means "of what house."
Final line, "shirushi naru ran," means "can they be the sign," with "ran" a conjectural auxiliary. While taking the form of a question, it praises the glory of Michinaga's house.
Author
Fujiwara no Kintō
Source
Shui Wakashu
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