散る花の庵の上をふくならば
風入るまじくめぐり囲はん
風入るまじくめぐり囲はん
- Roma-ji
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Chiru hana no iori no ue o fuku naraba kaze iru majiku meguri kakowan
- English Translation
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If the falling blooms
come to roof my humble hut,
thatching it on top,
lest the wind come blowing in,
I shall fence it all around.
- Meaning
- If the falling blossoms are to thatch the roof of my hut, I will fence it all around so that the wind cannot get in.
- Commentary
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Spring Poems 138
Headnote: "While I was in retreat on Mount Kōya, blossoms fell and piled up on my grass hut"
According to the headnote, the poet composed this while in retreat on Mount Kōya, when blossoms fell and piled up on his grass hut. If the falling petals will thatch the roof of his hut, he says, he will fence it all around to keep out the wind that would blow them away.
Fuku is a pivot word for thatching a roof and for the wind blowing, linking the elegant idea of living under a roof of blossoms with a guard against the wind. In the simple life of a place of religious practice, his love of the blossoms shows through.
First line, “chiru hana no”: the falling cherry blossoms.
Second line, “iori no ue o”: over the roof of the grass hut.
Third line, “fuku naraba”: fuku is a pivot word meaning both to thatch a roof and for the wind to blow.
Fourth line, “kaze iru majiku”: so that the wind does not get in.
Fifth line, “meguri kakowan”: n expresses intention, I will fence it all around, closing the poem.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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