Kokinshu #448
Sunday, 15 September 2013 09:05![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammer Chinese bush-clover (karahagi)
Though each empty husk
like cicada shells on trees
rests in its coffin,
how sorrowful it is that
we can't see where the soul goes.
utsusemi no
kara wa ki-goto ni
todomuredo
tama no yukue o
minu zo kanashiki
---L.
Though each empty husk
like cicada shells on trees
rests in its coffin,
how sorrowful it is that
we can't see where the soul goes.
—25 July 2013
Original author unknown. While the meaning of topic is clear, it's uncertain which variety of bush-clover was considered Chinese at the time. Regardless, it's an early autumn topic. Pivot-word: ki is a "tree" and a "coffin," a double-meaning extended to the "husk" that's both the literal cicada shell and the empty bodies of the dead. The standard sentiment of second half does not live up to how well the first half works in the original. The effect isn't the same as leaving the bald last line unpolished in translation, but the let-down is similar.utsusemi no
kara wa ki-goto ni
todomuredo
tama no yukue o
minu zo kanashiki
---L.