訪はぬ間をうらむらさきに咲く藤の
何とてまつにかかりそめけむ
何とてまつにかかりそめけむ
- Roma-ji
-
Towanu ma o uramurasaki ni saku fuji no nani tote matsu ni kakarisomekemu
- English Translation
-
Resenting the days
you do not come, the wisteria
blooms in pale purple —
why did I ever begin
to cling to the pine, and wait
- Meaning
- Resenting the days you do not visit, like wisteria blooming pale purple and clinging to the pine, why did I ever begin to wait for you?
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Love Poems II 257
Drawing on wisteria blooming as it twines around a pine, the poet laments having become one who waits, resenting the beloved who does not come. Playing "uramurasaki" (pale purple) against "uramu" (to resent), and "matsu" (pine) against "matsu" (to wait), the pairing of wisteria and pine expresses the sorrow of a waiting love.
The first line, "towanu ma o" (the days you do not come), refers to the time without visits.
The second line, "uramurasaki ni," is a pivot word joining "uramu" (to resent) with "uramurasaki," a pale purple.
The third line, "saku fuji no" (wisteria blooming), follows from the purple of the second line and, with the pine of the fourth, forms the classic pairing of wisteria and pine.
The fourth line, "nani tote matsu ni," asks "why" and is a pivot word joining "matsu" (pine) and "matsu" (to wait).
The final line, "kakarisomekemu," overlays wisteria beginning to cling to the pine with beginning to be bound to waiting, and closes with the attributive past conjectural "kemu": why did it begin?
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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