花が枝に露の白玉貫きかけて
折る袖濡らす女郎花かな
折る袖濡らす女郎花かな
- Roma-ji
-
Hana ga e ni tsuyu no shiratama nukikakete oru sode nurasu ominaeshi kana
- English Translation
-
On its flowering stems,
threading dewdrops' white jewels
and hanging them there,
it soaks the sleeves of the one
who breaks it, the maidenflower.
- Meaning
- Threading white jewels of dew onto its flowering branches and wearing them there, the maidenflower soaks the sleeves of anyone who reaches to pick it.
- Commentary
-
Autumn Poems 280
Headnote: "Maidenflower wearing dew"
The topic is the maidenflower adorned with dew. The flower wears the dew on its branches like white jewels strung on a thread, and wets the sleeves of anyone who tries to pick it. Likening the dew to jeweled ornaments, the poem pictures the maidenflower beautifully adorned.
Comparing dew to jewels and speaking of threading them is a familiar figure in waka. The poem forms a pair with the next, which says the sleeves are wet even before the flower is picked.
First line, “hana ga e ni”: on the flowering branch; ga is a particle linking to the noun.
Second line, “tsuyu no shiratama”: dew likened to white jewels.
Third line, “nukikakete”: threading jewels and hanging them, seeing the dew along the branches as a jeweled necklace.
Fourth line, “oru sode nurasu”: wetting with dew the sleeves of the one who would pick the flower.
Fifth line, “ominaeshi kana”: the same last line as 278 and 279, closing with kana.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
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Ōkata no nobe no tsuyu ni wa shioruredo waga namida naki ominaeshi kana
- Next Poem
-
Oranu yori sode zo nurenuru ominaeshi tsuyu musuborete tateru keshiki ni