Kokinshu 33
Text
色よりも かこそあはれと おもほゆれ たが袖ふれし やどの梅ぞも
Translation
[Topic unknown] [Poet unknown]
More than the color \ it is the scent that is affecting \ I think. \ Whose sleeve touched them \ the plums of my garden?
Notes
- 色
- Kubota notes that these are white plums.
- かこそあはれとおもほゆれ
- The こそ....已然形 structure sometimes has a contrastive "but" meaning but here it just seems to be sentence-ending.
- あはれ has a range of meanings both positive and negative. Takeoka interprets it as a nostalgia for the past, whereas Katagiri interprets it as great praise for the flower's scent. Mabuchi also noted both potential meanings.
- やど
- This word can mean either "garden" or "house", but here it would seem to mean the plum flowers growing in the garden.
- ぞも
- Most commentaries describe this as simply a more emphatic version of ぞ. Some older commentaries read it unvoiced as そも, but all modern editions voice it.
Analysis
The first part of this poem is clear, showing a preference for the scent to the visual. This may recall other poetic oppositions of fall to spring, or fallen flowers to blooming flowers. Like the previous poem, this "scent" is probably meant to suggest the incense of a robe, leading into the second half of the poem.
The second part is more evocative and less direct. Many older commentaries connected it to a variety of Chinese legends involving men smelling the lingering scent on a dead lover's robe. Mabuchi acknowledged that these legends seemed appropriate but was concerned that they lessened the emotional impact of the poem.
Other commentaries read it with a love meaning, such as the Chokudenkai, echoed by Kaneko. In this reading, this poem is delivered to a woman by a man, who wonders what other man has been visiting her. Takeoka and Katagiri rejected this reading, although Katigiri noted that many of the poem tales may have been constructed around poems like this that have these possible love subtexts. It's difficult to know whether the compilers, in placing this poem in the seasonal section, intended to firmly reject a love reading.
A non-love version of the poem would simply be a witty comparison between the scent of the plums and robe incense, like the previous poem. These plums smell so good, some high-raking person must have come by with their wonderful incense to perfume them. Matsuda and the Shin nihon koten bungaku taikei edition interpret it in this way as a poem of greeting to the owner of the house, praising his plums.
The Etsumokusho faulted the poem for its repeated use of れ syllables.
Other Sources
- 悦目抄 歌林良材
- 源氏物語注・竹川