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Kokinshu #63
Reply.
If I had not come
today, they would have fallen
tomorrow like snow --
and even if they don't melt,
would they then still seem flowers?
kyô kozu wa
asu wa yuki to zo
furinamashi
kiezu wa ari to mo
hana to mimashi ya
---L.
If I had not come
today, they would have fallen
tomorrow like snow --
and even if they don't melt,
would they then still seem flowers?
—23 November 2010
Original by Ariwara no Narihira. In Tales of Ise the author is an anonymous man, though the manner of sifting through suppositions is so distinctive it could hardly be anyone but Narihira. Note that while furu means "to fall" for snow, its homonym means "to get old" for a person, and a flower was a common metaphor for feminine beauty. So continuing the metaphor of flowers=the woman from #62, the final question then asks whether, even if she waits for him, will he still see her as a woman -- that is, as a lover. Way to cut things off, dude. Or maybe he's asking her whether it's worth resuming their relationship. Or if he'll still be in love when she's old. Or ...kyô kozu wa
asu wa yuki to zo
furinamashi
kiezu wa ari to mo
hana to mimashi ya
---L.