宿ごとに花橘ぞにほふなる
一木が末を風は吹けども
一木が末を風は吹けども
- Roma-ji
-
Yadogoto ni hanatachibana zo niou naru hitoki ga sue o kaze wa fukedomo
- English Translation
-
In every dwelling
the orange blossoms, it seems,
are filled with fragrance,
though over a single tree's tip
the wind is all that blows
- Meaning
- In every house, it seems, orange blossoms are fragrant, though the wind is blowing over the top of only a single tree.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 149
The wind blows only over the top of a single orange tree, yet its scent spreads so that orange blossoms seem to be fragrant at every house. The poem captures, through the work of the wind, how the fragrance of one tree fills a whole village.
The preceding poem, 148, also sings of the scent of orange blossoms, and the two form a pair. Where that poem finds a single location by scent, this one has the scent of one tree spread to every house, in contrast.
The author, Kinzane, is Fujiwara no Kinzane. A son of Fujiwara no Sanesue, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor and also served as Master of the Crown Prince's Household. He was an active poet in the circle of Emperor Horikawa.
First line, 'yadogoto ni', means in every house. Like 'in every village' in poem 142 in this book, it sings of something reaching everywhere.
Second line, 'hanatachibana zo', where the particle zo binds with the attributive naru in the third line.
Third line, 'niou naru', uses naru, the attributive form of the inferential nari: they seem to be fragrant. The poem breaks after the third line and the lower half is inverted.
Fourth line, 'hitoki ga sue o', means over the top of one tree, set against 'in every house' in the first line.
Final line, 'kaze wa fukedomo', means though the wind blows, showing how the scent of a single tree is carried far by the wind.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kinzane
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Satsukiyami hanatachibana no arika o ba kaze no tsute ni zo sora ni shirikeru
- Next Poem
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Kono sato mo yūdachi shikeri asajiu ni tsuyu no sugaranu kusa no ha mo nashi