Saturday, 5 February 2011

Kokinshu #61

Saturday, 5 February 2011 09:05
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
Written in a year with an intercalary Third Month.

    O cherry blossoms,
in these years with extra spring,
    at the very least,
couldn't you then attempt to
satisfy the human heart?

—18 November 2010

Original by Ise. To keep the lunar calendar of the time in synch with the solar year, leap months were added as needed; that it was an extra Third Month tells us that this was written in 904. Needless to say, flowers don't actually last longer when spring is four months long, making this another specimen of the wit of #1, though handled here with more grace. The grammatically unmarked flowers can be read pretty much only as an address.


sakurabana
haru kuwawareru
toshi dani mo
hito no kokoro ni
akare ya wa senu


---L.

About

Warning: contents contain line-breaks.

As language practice, I like to translate poetry. My current project is Chinese, with practice focused on Tang Dynasty poetry. Previously this was classical Japanese, most recently working through the Kokinshu anthology (archived here). Suggestions, corrections, and questions always welcome.

There's also original pomes in the journal archives.

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