いづれをかわきて折らまし山里の
垣根つづきに咲ける卯の花
垣根つづきに咲ける卯の花
- Roma-ji
-
Izure o ka wakite oramashi yamazato no kakine tsuzuki ni sakeru unohana
- English Translation
-
Which one of them all
should I single out and pick,
in the mountain village
all along the hedgerows
blooms the deutzia flower
- Meaning
- Which should I single out to pick? All along the hedges of the mountain village, the deutzia blooms unbroken.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 99
Before deutzia blooming without a break along the hedges of a mountain village, the poet cannot decide which spray to pick, for all are lovely. The abundance of the white flowers stretching on and on is conveyed through the heart that cannot choose.
From poem 98 through poem 103 in this book, poems on the deutzia follow one another, likening the flower to snow, to moonlight, to hedges and to sacred ropes.
The author, Masafusa, is Ōe no Masafusa. A son of Ōe no Narihira, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. He served three emperors, Go-Sanjō, Shirakawa and Horikawa, and was the foremost scholar of his day.
First line, 'izure o ka', means which one, and the particle ka binds with mashi in the second line, expressing hesitation.
Second line, 'wakite oramashi', uses waku, to distinguish or choose, and mashi, an auxiliary of hesitant intention. The poem breaks after the second line and the rest is inverted. The same word waku appears in 'wakarezarikeri' in poem 96.
Third line, 'yamazato no', is a village tucked among the mountains.
Fourth line, 'kakine tsuzuki ni', means continuing all along the hedges. Like 'no hedge where it does not bloom' in poem 101, it pictures the deutzia blooming on hedgerows.
Final line, 'sakeru unohana', ends on a noun, revealing at last what the poet hesitates to pick.
- Author
- Oe no Masafusa
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Yuki no iro o ubaite sakeru unohana ni ono no satobito fuyugomori su na
- Next Poem
-
Yuki to shimo magai mo hatezu unohana wa kurureba tsuki no kage ka to mo miyu