古寺の朽木の梅も春雨に
そぼちて花もほころびにけり
そぼちて花もほころびにけり
- Roma-ji
-
Furudera no kuchiki no ume mo harusame ni sobochite hana mo hokorobinikeri
- English Translation
-
At the ancient temple
even the rotting old plum tree,
in the gentle rain of spring,
drenched through, has let its blossoms
open and unfold at last.
- Meaning
- Even the decaying old plum at the ancient temple, soaked by the spring rain, has let its blossoms open.
- Commentary
-
Spring Poems 21
Headnote: "On a morning of drizzling rain, seeing that the plum trees at Shōchōju-in had bloomed here and there, I tied this to a blossom"
On a morning of soft rain, the poet saw that the plum trees at Shōchōju-in had bloomed here and there, and tied this poem to one of the blossoms. He rejoices that even an aged, decaying plum, moistened by spring rain, has opened its flowers, seeing in the stillness of the old temple a revival of spring life. Kamo no Mabuchi said of the second line that its use of "rotting tree" is not bad.
Shōchōju-in was a temple Minamoto no Yoritomo built in Kamakura in 1185 to pray for his father Yoshitomo, a temple closely tied to the poet. The Ruijū text's headnote ends "…a poem tied to the blossom," and the Ruijū and Teika texts differ from the fourth line on. The repetition mark in the base text's headnote is hard to read, and the reading "here and there" has been adopted.
Line 1, "the ancient temple," refers to Shōchōju-in.
Line 2, "even the rotting old plum," echoes kuchiki in the preceding poem, 20. There, snow on rotten trees was likened to blossoms that could never be; here the old plum truly blooms.
Line 3, "in the spring rain," takes up the drizzle of the headnote.
Line 4: sobotsu means to be soaked gently by rain, and mo adds "the blossoms too."
Line 5: keri expresses realization and delight at the buds opening.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
- Prev Poem
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Haru kite wa hana to ka miemu onozukara kuchiki no soma ni fureru shirayuki
- Next Poem
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Umegae ni kooreru shimo ya tokenuramu hoshiaenu tsuyu no hana ni koboreru