折しもあれ花橘の香るかな
昔を見つる夢の枕に
昔を見つる夢の枕に
- Roma-ji
-
Ori shimo are hanatachibana no kaoru kana mukashi o mitsuru yume no makura ni
- English Translation
-
Just at this moment
the fragrance of orange blossoms
drifts so sweetly here,
by my pillow where in dreams
I have seen the days of old
- Meaning
- Just at this moment the orange blossoms send their fragrance, beside the pillow where I have dreamed of days gone by.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Summer Poems 175
Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Orange Blossoms Scent the Pillow'"
Composed on the topic "Orange Blossoms Scent the Pillow." Just as the poet wakes from a dream of the past, the fragrance of orange blossoms drifts to his pillow. The scent of orange blossoms was held to recall the past, and here the past seen in a dream and the fragrance actually in the air coincide, deepening his nostalgia.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kinhira Ason," is said to have been a son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Kinyoshi, and served as Middle Captain of the Left Inner Palace Guards. His elder brothers were Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Sanesada and Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Saneie.
First line, "ori shimo are": "just at that very moment," stressing the coincidence of time. Poem 184 of this book likewise opens with "toki shimo are."
Second line, "hanatachibana no": names the subject, the orange blossoms.
Third line, "kaoru kana": the exclamatory "kana"; the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "mukashi o mitsuru": "tsuru" is the attributive of the perfective "tsu": "where I saw the past," drawing on the tradition of the orange scent recalling the past.
Fifth line, "yume no makura ni": "at the pillow where I woke from the dream," expressing the headnote's "scent the pillow." It is inverted with the third line.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kinhira
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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Waga yado no hanatachibana ni fuku kaze o taga sato yori to tare nagamuran
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Samidare ni hanatachibana no kaoru yo wa tsuki sumu aki mo samo araba are