KKS 71
Text
[Topic unknown]
[Poet unknown]
残なくちるぞめでたき桜花ありて世中はてのうければ
|
nokori naku |
That is what's splendid |
Notes
- splendid
- medetashi is a rare word in poetry, hardly appearing in any poems but this one. One significant example is this poem from the Tales of Ise:
ちればこそいとど桜はめでたけれうき世に何か久しかるべき
Cherry blossoms are splendid exactly because they scatter. What in this fleeting world lasts long?
- Mabuchi may be correct that the Ise poem is based on this KKS poem.
Analysis
Starting with Keichū (Yozaishō), nearly every commenter has recognized that this feels like a response to the previous poem, highlighting the scattering of the blossoms as the best part of their appeal.
The basic idea seems to be Buddhist. Both flowers and people start off well, but flowers get to scatter quickly whereas people grow old, where all is suffering. In addition to the Buddhist concept, many scholars beginning with Matsunaga Teitoku (Kyōtanshō) quote the line 寿者多恥 ("Life contains many embarrassments") as embodying this idea as well. We should possibly view the poet as an old man.
As Kaneko(1927) points out, the first two lines would have surprised the listener with both the uncommon idea and the rare word medetashi. Then after the hinge of the third line, the remaining lines are weak and sorrowful.
Several other KKS poems are similar in tone: 97, 98, 933, and 951.
