Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
花の色は
Ono no Komachi · 小野小町
花の色は
移りにけりな
徒に
我が身世にふる
ながめせしまに
Historical kana
はなのいろは
うつりにけりな
いたづらに
わがみよにふる
ながめせしまに
Original English translation
The flowers’ colour has faded, all in vain, while I have passed through this world, lost in long rains and thought.
History and context
Komachi’s historical life is less certain than the many later legends about her beauty. This Kokinshū spring poem brings fading blossoms and the passage of a human life into one scene.
Imagery and wordplay
Nagame suggests both long rain and gazing in thought; furu joins falling rain to passing years.
Kokinshū · 古今集春下113
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.