Kokinshu #60
Thursday, 3 February 2011 07:09![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammer A poem from the poetry contest held the palace of the consort in the Kanpyô era.
cherry blossoms
blooming around the mountains
of fair Yoshino --
I really did mistake you
for nothing more than the snow!
miyoshino no
yamabe ni sakeru
sakurabana
yuki ka to nomi zo
ayamatarikeru
---L.
cherry blossoms
blooming around the mountains
of fair Yoshino --
I really did mistake you
for nothing more than the snow!
—17 November 2010
Original by Ki no Tomonori. Another ambiguous cherry that could be address, exclamation, or unmarked topic/subject/direct object of the final passive verb, "to be mistaken (for something)" (ayamatare(ru)). Because the final -keru suggests personal realization, I read the verb's subject as the speaker, where the passive expresses his spontaneous action: "I found myself mistaking you/it (for something)". At the time, the Yoshino area was better known for its deep snow than the cherry blossoms of later reputation. This may not be the most original poem ever, but as a statement of the idea it is lovely in precisely those ways that do not translate well. This tends to happen with Tomonori.miyoshino no
yamabe ni sakeru
sakurabana
yuki ka to nomi zo
ayamatarikeru
---L.