Kokinshu 22

Text

「歌たてまつれ」とおほせられし時に詠みてたてまつる

つらゆき

かすがのの　わかなつみにや　しろたへの　袖ふりはへて　人の行くらむ　

Translation

When [the Emperor] said "Submit a poem," [Tsurayuki] read this and submitted it.

[Ki no] Tsurayuki

To Kasuga Plains / are they going to pick young shoots, / The white / sleeves waving / the people going.

Notes

「歌たてまつれ」とおほせられし時

This is Emperor Daigo; not named because the KKS was presented to him. おほせられ is a double honorific (おほす in the honorific passive), with the past-tense し (RT of き). This is used because Tsurayuki the compiler is recounting his own past experience.

The exact circumstance is not given; the Template:Denju's claim that Daigo was requesting poems for the KKS is unlikely. This may have been a screen painting poem, which were often done in response to imperial command, or perhaps a poem at a gathering or official occasion.

や...らむ

This sets up a structure where the first two lines are a guess based on what the poet sees in the last three.

しろたへの

This is often used as a pillow word for 袖 or other clothing related words. Most commentators agree that this is also referring to actual color of the sleeves, although Katagiri disagrees.

袖ふりはへて

This seems to be a play on 袖振る (waving sleeves) and also ふりはへて (making effort, going through trouble). A few scholars have suggested that the entire phrase しろたへの袖 is simply a preface (序) with no actual image in the poem, but most commentators allow it to be a 有心の序, that is, a preface that also indicates the actual imagery in the poem.

行く

Takeoka notes that in poetry (at least in the KKS and GSS), this is always read ゆく.