埋もれ木の下は朽つれどいにしへの
花の心は忘れざりけり
花の心は忘れざりけり
- Roma-ji
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Umoregi no shita wa kutsuredo inishie no hana no kokoro wa wasurezarikeri
- English Translation
-
The buried tree's trunk
has rotted away below,
yet of days gone by
the heart that once was in bloom
it has not, I find, forgotten
- Meaning
- The buried tree has rotted away below, yet it has not forgotten the heart of its blossoms in days gone by.
- Commentary
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Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 342
Overlaying himself, aged and unused by the world, with a buried tree rotting beneath the earth, the poet says that though his body decays, he has not forgotten the bright heart of former days. Though in an unfortunate lot, he keeps the pride and refinement of the past.
The first line, "umoregi no" (the buried tree), names wood buried in earth or water, a figure for one unknown and out of favor.
The second line, "shita wa kutsuredo," uses the concessive "do": though rotted below.
The third line, "inishie no" (of days gone by), points to the past.
The fourth line, "hana no kokoro wa," refers to the heart of the time of blossoms, overlaid with a heart once flourishing.
The final line, "wasurezarikeri," combines the negative "zu" and exclamatory "keri": it has not forgotten. The final poem of the book, 347, also sings of a sunken life and ends with "keri."
- Author
- Oe no Masafusa
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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