Yamabuki no hana no tsuma to wa kikanedomo utsurou nae ni naku kawazu kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山吹の花の妻とは聞かねども
うつろふなへに鳴くかはづかな

Roma-ji: Yamabuki no hana no tsuma to wa kikanedomo utsurou nae ni naku kawazu kana
English Translation: Though I've never heard
that they were the kerria's
wedded mates,
as the blossoms fade away
the river frogs cry out
Meaning: I have never heard that the frogs were the kerria's mates, yet as the blossoms fade, the frogs cry out as if in mourning.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 117

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on kerria when presenting a hundred-poem sequence"
Composed on "kerria" for a hundred-poem sequence presented to Retired Emperor Sutoku. The poet has never heard that the frogs are the kerria's mates, yet as the flowers fade and fall the frogs cry out as if grieving. Building on the tradition of pairing kerria with frogs, he hears in their voices, rising as the blossoms wane, the sorrow of losing a partner. The kerria sequence ends here.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kiyosuke Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Akisuke, Master of the Left Capital Office. Heir to the poetic learning of the Rokujō Fujiwara house, he was one of the foremost scholars of poetry of his day and wrote treatises such as the Fukuro-zōshi. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "yamabuki no": names the subject, the kerria.
Second line, "hana no tsuma to wa": "tsuma" refers to either member of a married pair, here a mate; the frogs are seen as the kerria's partners.
Third line, "kikanedomo": "ne" is the realized form of the negative "zu" and "domo" concessive: "though I have not heard."
Fourth line, "utsurou nae ni": "utsurou" means the flowers' color fading and their beginning to fall, and "nae ni" means "along with, as."
Fifth line, "naku kawazu kana": "kana" is exclamatory. Like "kawazu naku" in 112 and "Ide no kawazu" in 113 of this book, it pairs kerria with frogs and closes the kerria sequence.
Author: Fujiwara no Kiyosuke
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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