茅花抜く北野の茅原あせゆけば
心すみれぞ生ひ変はりける
心すみれぞ生ひ変はりける
- Roma-ji
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Tsubana nuku kitano no chihara aseyukeba kokoro sumire zo oikawarikeru
- English Translation
-
When the reed field fades,
in Kitano where they pull
the young cogon shoots,
violets grow in their place,
making the heart grow clear.
- Meaning
- As the cogon field of Kitano fades, where people pull the young shoots, violets grow up in their place, clearing the heart.
- Commentary
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Miscellaneous Poems 1444
Headnote: none
As the cogon field of Kitano, stripped of its young shoots, fades, violets grow up in its place, clearing the heart, the poet says.
Tsubana are young cogon spikes picked and eaten in spring; after the field picked bare declines, violets spring up, depicting nature's changes. Sumire, "violet," seems to echo sumi, "clear," overlaying a heart grown clear.
First line, “tsubana nuku”: pulling the young cogon shoots.
Second line, “kitano no chihara”: the cogon field of Kitano near the capital.
Third line, “aseyukeba”: as it fades.
Fourth line, “kokoro sumire zo”: sumire echoes the heart "growing clear"; zo is answered by the attributive keru.
Fifth line, “oikawarikeru”: they have grown up in its stead.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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