いにしへの奈良の都の八重桜
今日九重に匂ひぬるかな
今日九重に匂ひぬるかな
- Roma-ji
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Inishie no Nara no miyako no yaezakura kyō kokonoe ni nioinuru kana
- English Translation
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In days of old
in Nara, the ancient capital,
the eightfold cherry
today within the ninefold palace
blooms in glowing beauty.
- Meaning
- The eightfold cherry of Nara, the capital of old, today blooms in radiant color within the ninefold palace.
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems 29
Headnote: "In the reign of Emperor Ichijō, someone presented eightfold cherry blossoms from Nara; as I was then in attendance before the emperor, I was given the flowers and told to compose a poem, and so composed this"
In the reign of Emperor Ichijō, when eightfold cherries from Nara were presented to the court, the poet, serving to receive them, was ordered to compose a poem and did so on the spot. Contrasting the ancient capital of Nara with the present capital, and eightfold with ninefold, she praises the splendor of the flowers offered.
According to the Ise no Taifu Collection, the task had been yielded to the newly arrived Ise no Taifu by Murasaki Shikibu. It is a famous poem, also chosen for the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The first line, "in days of old," leads to Nara, the former capital.
The second line, "Nara, the ancient capital," names the old capital of Heijō; as with the "old capital" of 3 and 16, the flowers of a former capital are sung.
The third line, "the eightfold cherry," a cherry with layered petals, pairs numerically with the "ninefold" of the fourth line.
In the fourth line, "today within the ninefold palace," "ninefold" means the court. The contrasts of past and today, eightfold and ninefold, are the pivot of the poem; it also connects with "ninefold" in the first line of 24.
The last line, "blooms in glowing beauty," praises the radiant blossoms with the perfective "nuru" and the exclamatory "kana."
- Author
- Ise no Taifu
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Ikemizu no migiwa narazu wa sakurabana kage o mo nami ni oraremashi ya wa
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Furusato ni tou hito araba yamazakura chirinamu nochi o mate to kotae yo