木のもとを住処とすればおのづから
花見る人となりぬべきかな
花見る人となりぬべきかな
- Roma-ji
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Ko no moto o sumika to sureba onozukara hana miru hito to narinu beki kana
- English Translation
-
Since I make my home
beneath the shelter of a tree,
quite of its own course
I am bound, it seems, to become
one who gazes at the blossoms
- Meaning
- Since I make my dwelling beneath a tree, I am bound, it seems, to become one who views the blossoms without even trying.
- Commentary
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Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 276
Living beneath a tree, the poet says, he need not set out to view the blossoms; he will naturally become a blossom-viewer. Turning the hardship of a homeless life of practice into the elegance of flower-viewing, the poem has a light, gentle humor.
The author, Retired Emperor Kazan, took the tonsure after less than two years on the throne and is known for later traveling through the provinces in religious practice. The words "making my home beneath a tree" suggest such a life.
The first line, "ko no moto o" (beneath a tree), names the place.
The second line, "sumika to sureba," is a conditional of certainty: since I make it my home.
The third line, "onozukara" (of its own course), means naturally, without effort.
The fourth line, "hana miru hito to" (one who views blossoms), refers to a person of refined taste who goes flower-viewing. From the next poem, 277, more poems of viewing blossoms follow.
The final line, "narinu beki kana," combines the intensive "nu," the attributive conjectural "beki," and the exclamatory "kana": surely I shall become one.
- Author
- Retired Emperor Kazan
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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