山桜匂ふあたりの春霞
風をばよそに立ち隔てなむ
風をばよそに立ち隔てなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Yamazakura niou atari no harugasumi kaze o ba yoso ni tachihedatenamu
- English Translation
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Where mountain cherries
are blooming in their glory,
O haze of spring,
rise up and hold the wind
far away from them
- Meaning
- O spring haze lying where the mountain cherries bloom in glory, rise up and keep the wind far away from them.
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems I 48
Headnote: "Composed as a poem on cherry blossoms for the poetry contest at the Kaya-no-in residence of the former Chancellor in the eighth year of Kanji"
Composed on the topic "cherry blossoms" for a poetry contest held in 1094 at the Kaya-no-in residence of the former Chancellor Fujiwara no Morozane, this poem calls on the spring haze trailing where mountain cherries bloom to hold off the wind that scatters the flowers. The conceit turns haze, usually sung as something that hides the blossoms, into a fence that protects them.
The author, "Chūnagon no Joō," was a woman poet of the late Heian period. The title "joō" suggests she was of imperial lineage, but her genealogy is not clearly known.
First line, "yamazakura": names the subject at the outset.
Second line, "niou atari no": "niou" means to glow with beauty, describing cherries in full bloom.
Third line, "harugasumi": an address to the haze, and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kaze o ba yoso ni": "o ba" is emphatic, "the wind, keep it far from the flowers." 57 in this book says that the wind reveals blossoms the haze has hidden, a pair in which the roles of haze and wind are reversed.
Fifth line, "tachihedatenamu": "namu" is a particle of wish directed at another, "please keep it apart." "Tachi" (rise) is an associated word with haze.
- Author
- Chūnagon no Joō
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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