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Kokinshu #115
Written and sent to several women met while crossing Shiga Mountain.
When I crossed over
(drawing my catalpa bow)
the mountains of spring,
I could not keep to the road --
the flowers are scattering.
azusayumi
haru no yama-be o
koekureba
michi mo sariaezu
hana zo chirikeru
---L.
When I crossed over
(drawing my catalpa bow)
the mountains of spring,
I could not keep to the road --
the flowers are scattering.
—16-19 July 2011
Original by Ki no Tsurayuki. The road from Kyoto to Sôfuku Temple, a frequent pilgrimage site on Lake Biwa to the northeast, passed over Shiga Mountain. Tsurayuki is, of course, playing the gallant here, implying that it's not just the fluttering flower-petals that distracted him, but the flower-women as well. And with his gallantry, we get the wit of a pivot-word: haru = "to bend" (the bow) / "spring" -- which is the only reason for the presence of the otherwise irrelevant, if graceful, bow.azusayumi
haru no yama-be o
koekureba
michi mo sariaezu
hana zo chirikeru
---L.