Kokinshu #269
Saturday, 7 July 2012 07:30![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammer Written by [Emperor Uda's] command in the Kanpyô era, on chrysanthemum flowers.
These chrysanthemums
I spotted up there above
the celestial clouds --
I did indeed mistake them
for the stars of heaven.
It's said this poem was presented on imperial order when [Toshiyuki] had not yet risen to high rank.
hisakata no
kumo no ue nite
miru kiku wa
ama tsu hoshi to zo
ayamatarekeru
kono uta wa, mada tenjou yurusarazarikeru toki ni meshi-agerarete tsukau-matsureru to namu
---L.
These chrysanthemums
I spotted up there above
the celestial clouds --
I did indeed mistake them
for the stars of heaven.
It's said this poem was presented on imperial order when [Toshiyuki] had not yet risen to high rank.
—30 Jun 2012
Original by Fujiwara no Toshiyuki. Despite the footnote, in the Kanpyô era Toshiyuki had already risen to Fifth Rank and so in the upper ranks. At the time, "above the clouds" idiomatically referred to being out of social reach, usually specifically the imperial court, and in that context the stars would be higher-ranked courtiers. Comparisons of asters to stars were also made in the West -- witness the Latin-derived English name. "Celestial" here translates hisakata no, as "eternal" is very odd epithet for clouds.hisakata no
kumo no ue nite
miru kiku wa
ama tsu hoshi to zo
ayamatarekeru
kono uta wa, mada tenjou yurusarazarikeru toki ni meshi-agerarete tsukau-matsureru to namu
---L.