Kokinshu 26
Text
あをやぎの いとよりかくる 春しもぞ みだれて花の ほころびにける
Translation
The blue willow / twists and drapes its thread / it is in the springtime / that it's chaotic and the flowers / bud forth.
Notes
- あをやぎの
- This is a shortening of あをきやぎ. The の is a subject marker, not a possessive for いと.
- よりかくる
- This creates a metaphor of the willow twisting its fronds atop the branches like thread. Using thread as an image for willow fronds is well established in Chinese poetry.
- 春しもぞ
- The role of the particles is somewhat disputed, but the しも seems to mark out spring in particular and the ぞ...ける is serves its usual function. 春 may play on 張る for clothing, although Katagiri disputes this.
- みだれて
- Although many older commentaries interpret this as the flowers blooming wildly, both Takeoka and Katagiri believe that it is too early in the season for that kind of poem. Instead, they both break after みだれて so that it's the threads of the willows that are chaotic. Katagiri also notes that the application of 乱 to growing willows is already found in Chinese poetry.
- ほころび
- The verb ほころぶ refers both to cloth stretching to the point of breaking, and also buds coming forth from branches.
Analysis
This poem follows from the previous one in its use of the clothing imagery -- Kaneko found it too similar to |poem 23, although the specific imagery is different. Everyone seems to agree with Sogi that the clothing is just used for wordplay or metaphor. The wordplay evokes the scene as well as playfully suggesting that the willows cause the flowers to come forth.
Although the poem does not appear in any pre-modern selections of good poetry, it receives the usual extravagant praise by modern scholars that most Tsurayuki poems do. Miura thought there was an interesting conflict between the elegance of the poem and the chaos of the imagery, and with the use of engo and the personification of the willow, this shows Tsurayuki's skill. Kubota found the poem complex, beautiful, and fresh. Takeoka pointed to the delicacy of the imagery along with the chaos, and Matsuda thought it showed Tsurayuki's personal skill.
Kubota and Matsuda also saw Chinese influence here (see the comment on みだれて above as well), particularly to Six Dynasties poetry.
Other Sources
- 新撰和歌６１
- 古今和歌六帖４１６２・柳・遍照
- 和漢朗詠集１１０・貫之. Fourth line みだれて花は
- 貫之集(私家集大成III)１７