Kokinshu #48

Monday, 10 January 2011 07:02
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
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    Even if you fall,
at least leave behind your scent,
    O flowering plum --
it would be a memory
of a season of longing.

—31 October 2010

Original author unknown. The unmarked flower is here clearly the receiver of the imperative "leave behind." Whom the speaker longs for is unstated, but it reads to me as a lover rather than the flowers (specifically, it's a memory of a time of longing, not a memory when (s)he is in such a time), in contrast with the previous two poems.


chirinu tomo
ka o dani nokose
ume no hana
koishiki toki no
omoide ni semu


---L.
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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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