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Kokinshu #270
Monday, 9 July 2012 06:59 A poem from the poetry contest at the house of Prince Koresada.
Let's pluck and wear you,
O chrysanthemum flower,
while there's still dew --
that never-aging autumn
must then abide forever.
tsuyu nagara
orite kazasamu
kiku no hana
oisenu aki no
hisashikarubeku
---L.
Let's pluck and wear you,
O chrysanthemum flower,
while there's still dew --
that never-aging autumn
must then abide forever.
—28 June 2012
Original by Ki no Tomonori. The association of chrysanthemums with long life was imported from China along with their use in the longevity festival on the Ninth of the Ninth Month, which at the time fell some time in what's now October. According to Chinese folklore, drinking the dew off a chrysanthemum retarded aging or even, in some circumstances, granted immortality. Strictly speaking, in the original it's "a long time," but the effect (especially combined with "not aging") is close to "forever."tsuyu nagara
orite kazasamu
kiku no hana
oisenu aki no
hisashikarubeku
---L.