Kokinshu 24

Text

寛平御時きさいの宮の歌合によめる

源むねゆきの朝臣

ときはなる　松のみどりも　春くれば　今ひとしほの　色まさりけり

Translation

Read at the Empress' Poetry Collection in the Kampei era.

Lord Minamoto no Muneyuki

The evergreen / pine tree's green color, even, / when spring comes / is one more shade / deeper in color.

Notes

寛平御時きさいの宮の歌合によめる

See Kokinshu 12. Template:Modern says that the によめる means the poem was actually composed at the competition rather than being a previously written poem, but this may be reading too far into the text.

朝臣

This word, read あそん, is used in the KKS for poets of rank 4 and above.

ときは

A shortening of 常磐（とこいは）. It is used with mountains and pine trees.

今ひとしほ

The term refers to a single dyeing of a cloth; the 今 here is like もう and means "one more".

Analysis

This poem appears in the Template:Oldest and the pseudo-Teika Template:Teika in the list of good poems.

The meaning is fairly clear -- the pine trees are known for being evergreen, but in the spring when everything is turning green, even the pine trees deepen one shade. The Template:Teika cites a Chinese precedent for this idea from the Wen Xuan. Since pines are often on mountains, there is a connection from the previous poem's mountain wind to this one.

There does seem to be some disagreement over whether pine trees actually deepen in color (Template:Teika, Template:Modern, many other 20th century scholars) or whether this is simply the perception of the poet because everything is turning green (Template:Denju,Takeoka).

As with some of the previous poems, the Template:Nativist reads a political meaning into this -- the thriving of those who received promotions. The Template:Denju thought that in the context of the poetry collection, this was praising the Empress for receiving the Emperor's love. But not all older commentaries took this line; Template:Denju praised it for its naturalness and feeling.

One of Fujiwara no Teika's poems, in Fugashu 158, seems to build on this:

いつもみし松の色かは初瀬山さくらにもるる春のひとしほ

Is that really the usual pine color we see? The shade of spring on Hatsuse mountain, with the light coming through the cherries.

Other Sources

• 新撰和歌１１
• 古今和歌六帖３５１１・もどり・宗于
• 和漢朗詠集４２７・宗于
• 宗于集９
• 寛平御時后宮歌合３９. vs くる春にあはむことこそかたからめ過行く方におくれずもがな
• 中宮亮重家朝臣家歌合１０４, 判詞. The Left's poem had suggested that pines do not know spring because they don't change, and the judge cited this poem as a poetic precedent that even pines changed a bit in spring.
• 俊成三十六人歌合６７. One of three poems of Muneyuki's selected by Shunzei.
• 若宮社歌合建久二年三月４６, 判詞. The Right's poem said that pines were notified of spring by the wind blowing across plum blossoms, and the judge cited this poem in support of the idea.
• 新時代不同歌合５５
• 三十六人撰　深窓秘抄
• 古来風体抄　桐火桶　定家八代抄