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Kokinshu #242
Friday, 4 May 2012 07:41 Topic unknown.
I'll plant them no more,
nor even look upon them:
when the miscanthus
flowers plume, it is clearly
weary autumn -- and it's lonely.
ima yori wa
uete dani miji
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru aki wa
wabishikarikeri
---L.
I'll plant them no more,
nor even look upon them:
when the miscanthus
flowers plume, it is clearly
weary autumn -- and it's lonely.
—1 May 2012
Original by Taira no Sadafun. Fortunately, fujibakama poems don't last nearly as long as maidenflowers -- on to some other late bloomers, continuing with another of the seven flowers of autumn: susuki (zebra grass, Miscanthus sinensis), a type of miscanthus or pampas grass admired for its silver-white plumes. Line 4 of the original has some multilayered punning: ho ni izuru means "put (out) plumes/heads/ears" for the miscanthus and idiomatically "become conspicuous/obvious" for aki, which while it's written with the kanji for "autumn" can also be heard as "being weary of" -- giving possible readings of "autumn when (the miscanthus) puts out plumes" / "(when) autumn becomes obvious" / "(someone's) being weary (of me) becomes obvious." Compare #34 and #92 for similar resolutions about flowers.ima yori wa
uete dani miji
hanasusuki
ho ni izuru aki wa
wabishikarikeri
---L.