classic waka stream

花の色や声に染むらん鶯の
鳴く音異なる春の曙
Roma-ji

Hana no iro ya koe ni somuran uguisu no naku ne koto naru haru no akebono

English Translation
Has the blossoms' hue
seeped into the very voice
of the warbler there,
singing in a different tone
in the early dawn of spring?
Meaning
Has the color of the blossoms seeped into its voice? The warbler sings in a different tone at dawn in spring.
Commentary
Spring Poems 91

Headnote: "When a warbler sang as I viewed the blossoms at dawn in spring"
According to the headnote, this poem was composed when a warbler sang while the poet viewed the blossoms at dawn in spring. The warbler's song beneath the flowers sounds unusually lovely, and he wonders whether the color of the blossoms has seeped into its voice.
The ingenuity lies in an expression that overlays sight and sound, color soaking into voice. The last line haru no akebono is the same as in 2 and 31, and here it depicts a dawn where blossoms and warbler come together, spring at its fullest.

First line, “hana no iro ya”: a line with an extra syllable; the interrogative ya forms a kakari-musubi with ran in the second line.
Second line, “koe ni somuran”: has it seeped into the voice, with the conjectural ran and a break after the second line.
Third line, “uguisu no”: of the warbler, leading into naku ne.
Fourth line, “naku ne koto naru”: its singing sounds different from usual.
Fifth line, “haru no akebono”: closing on a noun, the same last line as 2 and 31, the dawn scene with blossoms and warbler together.
Author
Saigyō
Source
Sankashu
Prev Poem
Kumo ni magau hana no shita nite nagamureba oboro ni tsuki wa miyuru narikeru
Next Poem
Onozukara hana naki toshi no haru mo araba nani ni tsukete ka hi o kurasu beki