Wanderer said:
こんにちはみんなさん
Could anyone help me translate this two verses of Sugawara no Michizane's poem:
秋風 の吹き上げに立てる白菊は、
花かあらぬか波の寄するか
akikaze no fukiage ni tateru shiragiku
hana ka aranu ka nami no yosuru ka
I'm not sure if I romanized it good (i mean spaces), especially this second vers
I know what every word mean (except one), but I can't get a sense of whole sentences (especially the second one
)
I dont know the meaning of this "aranu" word... Could someone explain me?
Anyway, thanks for any help
I think you romanization is correct, except "wa" is missing from the first sentence.
This is a waka poem of 9th century, thus the words and grammar are different from those of today's Janaese.
I'm not very good at classics especially grammar so I cannot explain the details also need to consult some online resources but... here's my try.
秋風 の吹き上げに立てる白菊は、
花かあらぬか波の寄するか
akikaze no fukiage ni tateru shiragiku
hana ka aranu ka nami no yosuru ka
秋風 の吹き上げに立てる白菊は、
Akikazeno fukiage ni - I think this is a kind of word play.
Fukiage is a name of a sea shore.
Akikazeno fuku (autumnal wind is blowin) + fukiage (no hama/Fukiage shore) ni
tateru shiragiku wa
tateru = tatteiru (standing)
shiragiku = shiroi kiku (no hana)
I think here the kiku is not a big showy one but those wild, small sized, which look like margarets.
The white kiku flowers standing on the Fukiage shore, being blown in the autumnal wind
花かあらぬか波の寄するか
aranu = aru + negative (nu is similar to today's "nai" to make negation)
hana ka : (are they) flowers
aranu ka : (or they are) not
nami no yosuru ka: (or are they) waves lapping (against the shore)
So the author is looking at the white kiku flowers on Fukiage shore, which are swaying in the autumn wind, and he wonders if the white flowers are really flowers, or just the waves lapping and crushing against the shore.
(Interesting thing is, this poem sounds like to be inspired by the simple beauty of nature, but in fact it was made on author's imagination of real scenery - according to the editor of 古今和歌集 in which this poem is included, it was made while they're looking at a kind of georama of Fukiage shore and white kiku planted on it. )