種まきしわがなでしこの花盛り
いく朝露のおきて見つらむ
いく朝露のおきて見つらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Tane makishi waga nadeshiko no hanazakari iku asatsuyu no okite mitsuramu
- English Translation
-
The pinks I planted,
sowing seeds with my own hands,
are in full flower—
how many dewy mornings
have I risen to watch them?
- Meaning
- The pinks I sowed from seed myself are now in full bloom; on how many mornings when the dew lay have I risen to gaze at them?
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 72
The poet looks back on the days he rose each morning to watch the pinks he had sown until they reached full bloom. Nadeshiko, "pink," also suggests nadeshi ko, "a cherished child," so the poem can be read as a parent's feelings in watching a child grow.
Together with poem 71, two poems on pinks stand side by side. Where the preceding poem looked at the flowers with dew upon them, this one speaks from the side of the person who rises each dewy morning to look, shifting the point of view on dew and flower.
First line uses the past auxiliary shi to show that he sowed the seeds himself.
Second line plays on nadeshiko, meaning both the flower "pink" and "a cherished child."
Third line, "full flower," shows the pinks at their peak, and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "how many dewy mornings," counts the days. Morning dew connects to "settling" in the final line.
Fifth line plays on oki, meaning both the dew "settling" and a person "rising." Ramu expresses present conjecture.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Akisue
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Usuku koku kakiho ni niou nadeshiko no hana no iro ni zo tsuyu mo okikeru
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Naku koe mo kikoenu mono no kanashiki wa shinobi ni moyuru hotaru narikeri