年を経て同じ桜の花の色を
染めますものは心なりけり
染めますものは心なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Toshi o hete onaji sakura no hana no iro o somemasu mono wa kokoro narikeri
- English Translation
-
Year after year,
the color of the blossoms
of the same cherry tree,
what dyes it ever deeper
is the heart, I come to see
- Meaning
- Year after year, what dyes the blossoms of the same cherry tree ever more deeply, I realize, is the heart of the one who sees them.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems I 63
Headnote: "Composed as a poem on blossoms when people composed poems for the Kamo Shrine poetry contest"
Composed on the topic "blossoms" when people composed poems for a contest dedicated to the Kamo Shrine, this poem says that although the cherry should bloom the same color each year, it looks deeper and lovelier as the years pass because it is not the flowers but the viewer's heart that dyes their color again and again. Its charm lies in finding the blossoms' beauty in the deepening heart of the beholder.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kintoki Ason," was a courtier poet of the late Heian period.
First line, "toshi o hete": "as the years go by."
Second line, "onaji sakura no": "of the same cherry tree" that blooms unchanged each year.
Third line, "hana no iro o": a six-syllable line exceeding the count.
Fourth line, "somemasu mono wa": "somemasu" means to dye and deepen the color further. 55 in this book said the cherries dye people's hearts and grow deeper in color each year, whereas this poem says the heart dyes the blossoms deeper, a pair in which dyer and dyed are reversed.
Fifth line, "kokoro narikeri": the same last line as the preceding poem, 62, expressing realization.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kintoki
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hana yue ni shiranu yamaji wa nakeredomo madou wa haru no kokoro narikeri
- Next Poem
-
Hanazakari yomo no yamabe ni akugarete haru wa kokoro no mi ni sowanu kana