lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
lnhammer ([personal profile] lnhammer) wrote2011-05-26 07:04 am

Kokinshu #90

Written by the Nara Emperor.

    Even in Nara,
the capital that has become
    an old village,
the colors aren't changing:
the flowers are still blooming.

—15 May 2011

Original by Emperor Heizei (774-824), who abdicated in 809 and retired to the recently former capital Nara; this is his only poem in the Kokinshu. What doesn't come through in translation: "became" is inflected to indicate personal experience.


furusato to
narinishi nara no
miyako ni mo
iro wa kawarazu
hana wa sakikeri


---L.