Kokinshu 36
Text
むめの花を折りてよめる
東三条の左のおほひまうちきみ
鶯の 笠にぬふてふ 梅花 折りてかざさむ おいかくるやと
Translation
He broke off a plum flower and read this
Higashi Sanjo Minister of the Left [Minamoto no Tokiwa]
The warblers / weave hats out of them, they say / the plum flowers / I shall break one off and put it in my cap / perhaps to hide my age.
Notes
- 左のおほひまうちきみ
- This is a Japanese reading of 左大臣. According to Takeoka the きみ should be unvoiced, but Katagiri voices it as ぎみ.
- 笠にぬふてふ
- てふ is a contraction of といふ; many texts, including some of Teika's texts, read といふ instead.
- The Ogisho says that the warblers jumping back and forth in the branches seems like weaving, and so they are said to "weave" branches. Since then, commentators both pre-modern and modern have variously supported this idea, or said that this is simply an evocative image because warblers spend time around plum trees and the plum blossoms can look like hats.
Analysis
The sentiment of the poem seems to be based on KKS 1081, which is also a Saibara song: 青柳の片糸によりてうぐひすの縫ふてふ笠は梅のはながさ. Although, as the Seigi pointed out, that poem has てふ in it as well, so this may be referring to some previous song or legend that now lost.
This seems to be a 述懐 poem about the poet's age. However, Tokiwa was only 43 when he died. Commenters such as Kaneko either say that he was starting to feel old age, that Heian people felt old age younger, or that spring was simply a time when everyone felt their age since you added one year in spring. Katagiri takes an entirely different viewpoint; he connects this poem to various 翁 dances -- thus Tokiwa was simply using this as a celebratory symbol of long life rather than a literal expression of his age.
Takeoka notes the shift from the fantasy world of the first two lines to the reality of the last two lines, around the central pivot of 梅花.
Other Sources
- 古今和歌六帖１４０４・翁・とう三条の左大臣. Also ４１２７・むめ・東三条右大臣
- 拾玉集３４７９. Jien's poem: 春ごとにかざしてとしぞつもりぬるわが老かくせむめの花がさ
- 秀歌大体 六華集 三百六十首和歌
- 奥儀抄 雲玉集