春秋も後の形見はなきものを
氷室ぞ冬の名残なりける
氷室ぞ冬の名残なりける
- Roma-ji
-
Haru aki mo nochi no katami wa naki mono o himuro zo fuyu no nagori narikeru
- English Translation
-
Spring and autumn too
leave no keepsake after them
when they have gone,
yet the icehouse, I find,
is what winter leaves behind
- Meaning
- Spring and autumn leave no keepsake behind once they are gone, yet the icehouse, I find, holds what remains of winter.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Summer Poems 208
Headnote: "Composed on icehouses"
Composed on the topic of "icehouses." Spring and autumn leave nothing behind as keepsakes once they are gone, yet the ice stored in the icehouse remains into summer as a trace of winter. Setting the way seasons leave no trace against winter's ice that lasts into summer, the poem delights in the wonder of the icehouse. Poems on icehouses begin here.
The author, "Later Lay-Priest Prince of Ninnaji," is Prince-Priest Kakushō, fifth son of Emperor Toba. He entered Ninnaji and took holy orders, and was held in high regard as its abbot. He loved poetry and gathered poets for poetry gatherings.
First line, "haru aki mo": "spring and autumn too."
Second line, "nochi no katami wa": a "katami" is a keepsake that recalls something gone. It echoes "haru no katami mo tomarazarikeri" in the book's opening poem, 136, again telling how spring leaves no keepsake.
Third line, "naki mono o": "mono o" is concessive: "though there is none."
Fourth line, "himuro zo fuyu no": a "himuro" is a chamber where winter ice is kept until summer. The emphatic "zo" links with "keru" in the last line. The next poem, 209, also treats the icehouse.
Fifth line, "nagori narikeru": "keru," the attributive of "keri" expressing realization, closes with "zo."
- Author
- Prince-Priest Kakushō
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tokonatsu no hana mo wasurete akikaze o matsu no kage nite kyō wa kurenuru
- Next Poem
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Atari sae suzushikarikeri Himuroyama makaseshi mizu no kōru nomi ka wa