KKS 69
Text
題しらず
Topic unknown
よみ人しらず
Poet unknown
春霞たなびく山の桜花うつろはんとや色変はりゆく
|
harukasumi |
On mountains where |
Notes
- preparing to fall
- The meaning of utsurou in this line is the subject of a great deal of commentary. The key problem is that in other poems the verb seems to mean "change color," thus raising the question of why the 5th line seems to repeat the same idea. The 日本国語大辞典 cites Man'yōshū evidence for four potentially relevant meanings of the word (which ultimately derives from utsuru meaning "move"):
- This has resulted in several different readings of the line, which I will discuss in the Analysis section below since they involve readings of the poem as a whole.
Other sources:
Analysis
The first 21 poems of the second volume are about falling/scattering cherry blossoms, following from the poems at the end of the first volume that were anxiously looking forward to the scattering. The volume opens with two poems that are still looking forward to the event, but with more certainty.
As mentioned in the notes section, this poem's interpretation is heavily influenced by the problem surrounding the meaning of utsurou, but also what relevance the haze in the first line has to the poem. Early commentaries (including Teika) interpreted it as "the blossoms are about to fall." Tō no Tsunenori (Ryōdō kikigaki) interpreted utsurou as a stronger fading of color than that of the 5th line. He seems to have been the first to identify the fourth line as the poet guessing the motives of the blossoms in changing color, and also to bring up the haze's role in the poem. This involves a related issue that cherry blossoms don't really "change color" in the way that other flowers do, thus raising the possibility that this supposed color change may just be an illusion created by viewing the blossoms through the haze.
Other commentators starting with Mabuchi interpret the word as "fall" -- thus, "Are they changing color because they are intending to scatter?" As we move into the modern period, it seems that the majority opinion is that the "color changing" is just the fading or lightening of the color as the blossoms start to die, and that utsurou means to move from profuse blooming to withering as they are about to scatter. Katagiri does bring up the view through the haze as well.
Kitamura Kigin recorded in the Kyōtanshō that Matsunaga Teitoku praised this poem for its high quality.
