KKS 42
Text
初瀬にまうづる毎に宿りける人の家に久しく宿らで、程経て、後に至れりければ、かの家の主、「かく定かになん宿りはある」と言ひ出して侍りければ、そこに立てりける梅の花を折てよめる
When he made visits to Hatsuse, he stayed in a certain person's house, and he had not visited for a long time. After some time had passed he went there again, and the owner of the house said "This lodging has not changed," and [Tsurayuki] broke off a plum flower from a tree standing there, and read this
貫之
人はいさ心も知らず故郷は花ぞ昔の香に匂ひける
|
hito wa isa |
For people, well, |
Notes
- Hatsuse
- This is the temple of Hasedera (長谷寺) in Nara, which was a common pilgrimage destination of the Heian upper class.
- certain person
- This may be a woman who Tsurayuki has had a relationship with, or it could be a male friend.
- "This lodging has not changed"
- The meaning of this seems to be "Why haven't you stayed here recently?"
Other sources:
Analysis
This poem continues the group of poems on the scent of plums. The seasonal volumes of the KKS contain very few of these "poem tale"-like prefaces that involve narratives.
Several medieval commentaries give a legend connected with this poem. As one example, the Bishamondō kokinshūchū relates that Tsurayuki's father Funmoto lamented that he had no sons. On one visit to Hasedera, he saw in a dream Kannon telling him "I have given you a sutra," and later thought that Tsurayuki's birth was that "sutra". Therefore Tsurayuki would visit Hasedera every month in thanks. In this legend, the "house" is the residence of a priest on the grounds of the temple itself.
