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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
小野小町
花の色は
うつりにけりな
いたづらに
わが身よにふる
ながめせしまに
わかみよに
ふるなかめ
せしまに
はなの
- Poem 9
- 花の色は
うつりにけりな
いたづらに
わが身よにふる ながめせしまに
Author: Ono no Komachi (dates unknown)
Source: Kokin Wakashū, Spring
- English Verse Translation
- The blossom's tint is washed away By heavy showers of rain; My charms, which once I prized so much,
Are also on the wane, Both bloomed, alas! in vain.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- How the beauty of the cherry blossoms faded away, soaked by the long spring rains. And just like them, my own looks have faded too, lost in a haze of endless longing.
- Commentary
- This poem expresses the feelings of a beautiful woman who, having spent her days searching for sincere love, realizes that time has slipped away — leaving her aged and enveloped in solitude. Interpretations of this poem, however, have varied across the centuries.
- About the Poet
- Little is confirmed about Ono no Komachi's birth, though she is said to have been the daughter of Ono no Yoshizane, a district governor in Dewa Province. A poet of the early Heian period, her origins and life remain shrouded in mystery. In Japan she is counted, alongside Cleopatra and Yang Guifei, as one of the "Three Great Beauties of the World," and countless legends surround her fabled beauty. She is also said to have served in the imperial household under Emperors Ninmyō and Montoku, displaying her poetic talent at court.
- Ono no Komachi'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)
The bloom of love has long since faded,
leaving only a quiet sorrow behind.In the fading cherry blossoms,
I see what has become of me.
- 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).