卯の花を音無川の波かとて
ねたくも折らで過ぎなけるかな
ねたくも折らで過ぎなけるかな
- Roma-ji
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U no hana o Otonashigawa no nami ka tote netaku mo orade suginakeru kana
- English Translation
-
Deutzia blossoms,
thinking them the waves that rise
on Otonashi stream,
vexing though it is, unpicked
I have passed them on my way
- Meaning
- Taking the deutzia blossoms for the waves of the Otonashi River, I passed them by without picking any, to my great regret.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Variant Poems 671
Mistaking the deutzia blooming white by the river for white waves on the Otonashi River, the poet passed by without picking them, and regrets it. Seeing the whiteness of the deutzia as waves, the poem links flowers that make no sound with the river's name, Otonashi, soundless.
This poem is found only in a variant manuscript line of the anthology; in the variant order it is placed after 103 in Book Two. Poems on deutzia continue from 98 in Book Two, and the next poem, 672, also sings of deutzia.
The final line reads suginakeru kana in the text; it is understood in the same sense as suginikeru kana, but the text is followed here.
First line, 'u no hana o', means the deutzia, a flower blooming white in early summer.
Second line, 'Otonashigawa no', means of the Otonashi River, a famous river whose name suggests soundlessness. The deutzia blooming white without a sound was taken for its waves.
Third line, 'nami ka tote', means thinking them waves, seeing the deutzia as white waves.
Fourth line, 'netaku mo orade', means vexingly, without picking them, using the negative particle de.
Final line, 'suginakeru kana', means I have passed them by, closing with the exclamatory kana.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hana nomi ya kurenuru haru no katami tote aoba no shita ni chirinokoruramu
- Next Poem
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U no hana no aoba mo miezu sakinureba yuki zo hana nomi kawaru narikeri