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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
伊勢大輔
いにしへの
奈良の都の
八重桜
けふ九重に
匂ひぬるかな
けふここの
へににほひ
ぬるかな
いに
- Poem 61
- いにしへの
奈良の都の
八重桜
けふ九重に 匂ひぬるかな
Author: Ise no Taifu (dates unknown)
Source: Shika Wakashū, Spring
- English Verse Translation
- The double cherry trees, which grew At Nara in past days, Now beautify this Palace, and Their
blossoms all ablaze Perfume the royal ways.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- The ancient eightfold cherry blossoms of Nara — today they bloom gloriously in the ninefold imperial palace.
- Commentary
- When a branch of eight-layered cherry blossoms was presented to the court from Kōfuku-ji Temple in Nara, Ise no Taifu was suddenly given the task of receiving it. Fujiwara no Michinaga then ordered her to compose a poem on the spot, and she rose to the occasion brilliantly — likening the splendor of the cherry blossoms to the glory of Emperor Ichijō's reign, and skillfully weaving together two pairs of contrasting words: "of old" and "today," "eight-layered" and "ninefold" (a poetic name for the imperial palace). So impressive was the result that Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, in his Fukuro Zōshi, wrote that it left "all who heard it in astonishment, the whole court abuzz."
- About the Poet
- Ise no Taifu was the granddaughter of Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu (Poem 49). Her name comes from her father's post as Deputy Director of Divinities (Jingi no Taifu) at the Ise Grand Shrine. She served Empress Shōshi, and was on friendly terms with both Izumi Shikibu (Poem 56) and Murasaki Shikibu (Poem 57).
- Ise no Taifu's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
From the ancient capital of Nara
came the splendor of eightfold cherry blossoms.Now blooming here in full glory —
the very brilliance of this reign.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).