Kokinshu #445

When the Nijô Empress was known as the Mother of the Crown Prince, she commanded [Yasuhide] to write a poem on a carved-wood "medo" flower.

    Even though it's not
a flowering tree, it has
    indeed blossomed.
Would that a time may come
when this aged stock bears fruit!

—24 July 2013

Original by Fun'ya no Yasuhide. Medo is the second of the three mysterious plants of the Kokinshu: traditional esoteric interpretations include that it's a type of bush-clover (medohagi) carved out of wood as part of a floral display and that it's the location of the carving, either in a covered bridleway or a type of paneled door -- with the first of these being the most popular. Regardless, in addition to the hidden topic, Yasuhide worked in a pivoty double-meaning where ko no mi is "fruit of the tree" / kono mi is "this body" -- turning the second half of the poem into a sly request for her patronage (much like #8). I like the effect of arazaramedomo, "although should not be," showing up in the middle instead of at the end like most verbal pile-ups.


hana no ki ni
arazaramedomo
sakinikeri
furinishi ko no mi
naru toki mogana

---L.