Text

兼盛王

けふよりは　荻のやけ原　かきわけて　若菜つみにと　誰をさそはむ

Translation

Prince Kanemori

兼盛王: This attribution is only found in this poem, and it is not completely clear who it refers to, or if there is a mistake. As can be seen from the Textual Notes, the poem is sometimes attributed to Kanemi rather than Kanemori. The 後六々集 lists Kanemi as the author, while Teika's 定家八代抄, the 和歌童蒙抄, and the 大和物語 attribute it to Taira no Kanemori. The 袋草紙 has a long note on the problematic attributions of a number of Kanemori's poems, including this one. Modern commenters take various approaches: 全釈 emends the text, with Kifune claiming that it would have been wrong to use the suffix 王 with Kanemori. 新体系 says that this would have been his title prior to 950, and 新注 simply notes the various sources and says that it is probably Kanemori's composition. Finally, 和歌大系 says that either is possible, and notes that the 大和物語 is not necessarily a completely trustworthy source.

荻: Kana spellings include 乎岐（和名類聚抄）、乎支（新撰字鏡）、and 乎疑（万葉集１４・３４４６）. Despite the spelling おき in the 中院本 and 正徹本, it seems that をぎ (with the voiced second syllable) is the historically correct reading. The plant first appears in imperial collections in the GSS (in a total of 4 poems), although it occurs in four MYS poems and one poem in the 新撰和歌. It is not included in the 古今和歌六帖 Starting with the 千載集 it becomes a standard autumn plant.　「下。をぎ原。庭、野などによむ。水辺にも有るべし」（八雲御抄）.