小萩原にほふ盛りは白露も
色々にこそ見えわたりけれ
色々にこそ見えわたりけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Kohagihara niou sakari wa shiratsuyu mo iroiro ni koso miewatarikere
- English Translation
-
In the bush clover field
at the height of its bright bloom
even the white dew
appears in many colors
spread out far across the plain
- Meaning
- When the bush clover field is in the glory of its bloom, even the white dew appears in many colors across the whole plain.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 228
When the field of bush clover is at the height of its colorful bloom, even the white dew, reflecting the flowers, appears in many colors across the whole plain. The splendor of the bush clover in full flower is conveyed through the colors of the dew.
Like the preceding poem, 227, it sings of white dew taking on the colors of the flowers, and the two form a pair.
From poem 227 through poem 229 in this book come poems on the white dew of the fields and on bush clover.
The author, Gyōson, was a son of the Consultant Minamoto no Motohira and a monk who rose to Tendai Abbot and Archbishop. He was also known as an ascetic of the mountain practice, and one of his poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
First line, 'kohagihara', is a field thick with bush clover, ko being a prefix that smooths the rhythm.
Second line, 'niou sakari wa', uses niou, to glow with color, for the bush clover in full bloom.
Third line, 'shiratsuyu mo', means even the white dew, mo implying that even dew, which should be white, is colored. Like the first line of the preceding poem, 227, it sings of white dew.
Fourth line, 'iroiro ni koso', means in many colors, and koso binds with the realis kere in the final line.
Final line, 'miewatarikere', means it is seen all across, closing with the exclamatory keri.
- Author
- Gyōson
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Shiratsuyu to hito wa iedomo nobe mireba oku hana goto ni iro zo kawareru
- Next Poem
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Shirasuge no mano no hagihara tsuyu nagara oritsuru sode zo hito na togame so