梅の花咲ける盛りを目の前に
過ぐせる宿は春ぞ少なき
過ぐせる宿は春ぞ少なき
- Roma-ji
-
Ume no hana sakeru sakari o me no mae ni suguseru yado wa haru zo sukunaki
- English Translation
-
The plum's blossoming,
its full and finest flowering,
right before their eyes—
a house that lets it slip away
has but little spring indeed.
- Meaning
- A house that lets the plum blossoms' full bloom pass right before its eyes has that much less of spring.
- Commentary
-
Spring Poems 24
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on plum blossoms"
A household that lets the plum blossoms' peak slip past before its very eyes without enjoying it, the poet says, has that much less spring—a poem that almost preaches the cherishing of the plum's prime. The conviction that one should savor the brief season of bloom is expressed in an epigrammatic turn.
Line 1, "The plum," continues the plum group following the preceding poem, 23.
Line 2, "its full flowering," means the time when it is most beautiful.
Line 3, "right before their eyes," stresses how near the peak is.
Line 4: sugusu means to let pass, and ru is the attributive of ri.
Line 5: zo with the attributive of the adjective forms a kakarimusubi, declaring that the spring to be enjoyed is diminished accordingly.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
- Prev Poem
-
Harukaze wa fukedo fukanedo ume no hana sakeru atari wa shiruku zo arikeru
- Next Poem
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Waga yado no yae no kōbai sakinikeri shiru mo shiranu mo nabete towanamu