Translation
Composed on the First Day of Spring
Spring wind
Begins today:
The frozen water melts,
I cup my hands
And wet my sleeves.
Commentary
Derived from a passage in the Book of Rites, one of the five Confucian classics, “In spring’s first month, an eastern wind melts the ice.” This poem can be read either literally or symbolically. It was written on the first day of spring; literally, the ice of winter is melting and he catches the melting water in his hands. Symbolically, “wet sleeves” was a common poetic expression of sadness, as in wiping off one’s tears. The meaning could be that the poet experienced sadness, perhaps from a relationship, in the previous spring or summer. He forgot about it during the winter (the memory froze), but is worried about the memory coming back as he gets closer to the time of year when the sad event happened. Supporting this, another reading of “musubishi” is “to tie” while another reading of “toku” is “to untie,” as in memories being tied up, then untied by the change of season. Further, another reading of “kyou” can be “bad luck, bad fortune.”
Japanese | Pronunciation |
紀貫之 | Ki no Tsurayuki |
袖ひちて | Sode hijite |
むすびし水の | Musubishi mizu no |
こほれるを | Kooreru wo |
春立つけふの | Haru tatsu kyou no |
風やとくらむ | Kaze ya toku ran |
Translation Notes
Sleeve cup hand
Unite/to-tie/to-bind/ending/conclusion water ’s/of
To-freeze/to-be-frozen-over/to-congeal
Spring begins/stand/rise today/bad-fortune/bad-luck/Buddhist-sutra/mirror ’s/of
Wind/breeze and dissolve/melt/unfasten/untie/benefit/rebirth-in-paradise/ explain/shelter brilliant/bright/rebellion/war
Year:
2012
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