KKS 69

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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 tanabiku yama no sakurabana utsurowa-n to ya iro kawari-yuku

On mountains where The spring haze is rising Cherry blossoms Are they preparing to fall By changing their color?

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"):

• Go from prosperity to decline (MYS 1045)
• Change(fade) color (MYS 4109)
• (Flowers) fall/scatter (MYS 3982)
• Vanish (MYS 3916).

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:

• Kokin waka rokujō
• Teika hachidaishō

Analysis

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