KKS 13
Text
[寛平御時后の宮の歌合の歌]
花のかを風のたよりにたぐへてぞ鶯さそふしるべにはやる
Translation
[A poem at the Empress' Poetry Collection in the Kampei era]
The flower's scent / to the wind's message / I will add; / as an invitation to the warbler / I will send it.
Explanation
The warblers in the previous poem have only false "flowers", so they don't yet know it's spring. Therefore, we must send the plum scent from our garden to invite the warblers out of the valley, leading directly into the next poem.
Detailed Notes
- やる
- The subject would seem to be the poet. たぐへて is also transitive.
Analysis
The basic idea here is that the poet is sending out the scent of the plum blossoms in his garden on the wind, as if it were a letter, to invite the warblers.
A good number of commentators (such as Template:Edo, Template:Nativist, and Template:Modern) say that the poet is reluctant to let the scent go because of how much he values it. It's hard to see where this feeling comes from, although Takeoka links it to the は in the final line and perhaps an emphasis of the を in the first. As with other poems earlier, the conceit of sending the warblers a message is called "childish" by some (Mabuchi, Takanao), but that seems to be a harsh judgment. Template:Modern disagrees with both ideas.
As Katagiri points out, in the original poetry competition this was paired with poem 12. So even if they were composed separately at first, they were later joined. Presumably there is a contrast with the scent of the real flowers in this poem and the scentless "flowers" of the previous one. Since the warblers have no real flowers and don't know it's spring, we have to send them scent.
This poem is alluded to several times in the Tale of Genji. The "wakana ge" chapter mentions perfume enticing to any warbler (Tyler trans. p 640). In "Hatsune" the text says 花の香さそふ夕顔 but perhaps this reference is more general.
This poem is used as a honka in several others:
- 君さそふしるべにぞやる鶯もきゐるのきばのむめのにほひを
- I will send it to you as an invitation: The scent of the plums under the eaves where the warblers sit (Shoku kokinshu 57)
- 吹く風のさそふにほひをしるべにて行方さだめぬ花のころかな
- This is the time of flowers whose scents float on the breeze inviting us to undecided places. (Shoku shuishu 76, Emperor Gosaga)
