KKS 47
Text
[A poem at the Empress' Poetry Competition in the Kampyō era ]
素性法師
Priest Sosei
ちるとみてあるべき物を梅花うたて匂ひの袖にとまれる
|
chiru to mi-te |
I should have seen them |
Notes
- Annoying
- There is disagreement about the exact nuance of the word utate, but in this poem it seems to indicate a negative surprise.
Other sources:
Analysis
This poem is in some sense the opposite of the previous one – here, the poet is dismayed to find that the scent has been transferred to his sleeves. The two poems show the same regret and sorrow at the falling blossoms, though. In this case, the subtext is probably that it would have been easier for the poet if he could simply accepted that the blossoms fall and thought no more of them. But now that the scent is on his sleeves, he won’t be able to forget them so easily. The negative focus on the scent of plums (while suggesting the love for the flowers) is a fresh take on the sorrow of falling blossoms.
Some commentaries link the feeling to Sosei’s position as a Buddhist monk, indicating that as a monk he should be giving up emotional reactions to nature. In that sense the poem could be read as "I should be viewing the blossoms dispassionately, but how can I do that when the scent is on my sleeves?" Whether such feelings should be read into any poem by a monk is open to debate.
Placing a noun in the third line, between two clauses, is a common poetic technique and sometimes has only a vague grammatical relationship to the rest of the poem. Katagiri reads it here as almost a callout to the plums – "Plum flowers! How annoying that you’ve put your scent on my sleeves!"
