みな人の心に染むる桜花
いくしほ年に色まさるらむ
いくしほ年に色まさるらむ
- Roma-ji
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Mina hito no kokoro ni somuru sakurabana ikushio toshi ni iro masaruramu
- English Translation
-
The cherry blossoms
that dye the hearts of all
with their own hue:
how many dippings every year
deepen their color so?
- Meaning
- The cherry blossoms dye the hearts of everyone with their color; how many times, year after year, are they steeped to make their color grow ever deeper?
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems I 55
Headnote: "Composed as a poem on blossoms when ten-poem sets were requested"
Composed on the topic "blossoms" when someone had poets compose ten-poem sets, this poem says that the cherry blossoms dye everyone's heart in their own color, and asks how many times a year they are steeped to deepen that color further. Using the language of dyeing, it conveys both the beauty of the cherries deepening year by year and people's growing love for them.
The author, "Former Captain of the Left Gate Guards Kinmitsu," is Fujiwara no Kinmitsu, son of Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Suenari. He rose to Provisional Middle Counselor and also served as Captain of the Left Gate Guards.
First line, "mina hito no": "of all people."
Second line, "kokoro ni somuru": "somuru" is the attributive of "to dye," meaning the cherries dye people's hearts in their own color.
Third line, "sakurabana": the subject of "somuru," presenting the poem's theme here.
Fourth line, "ikushio toshi ni": "shio" counts how many times cloth is dipped in dye, so "with how many dippings each year."
Fifth line, "iro masaruramu": "ramu" conjectures a cause, "does their color deepen so?" 63 in this book says instead "what dyes it deeper is the heart," making the heart dye the blossoms, a pair in which dyer and dyed are reversed.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kinmitsu
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kari ni dani itou kokoro ya nakaramashi chiranu hana saku kono yo nariseba
- Next Poem
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Katsuragi ya Takama no yama no sakurabana kumoi no yoso ni mite ya suginamu