The scent of orange blossom incense on the breeze[i]
Left
ふくかぜに花たちばなぞにほふなるむかしのそでにあやまたれつつ
fuku kaze ni hanatachibana zo niou naru mukashi no sode ni ayamataretsutsu
With the gusting breeze Orange blossom’s Fragrance comes— For those sleeves of bygone days Do I ever mistake it…
13
Right
つねよりもことにもあるかなけふをまつはなたちばなのかぜのにほひは
tsune yori mo koto ni mo aru kana kyō o matsu hanatachibana no kaze no nioi wa
More than ever So special it is! For today have I awaited, Orange blossom’s Scented breeze…
14
In general, orange blossom is scented during early summer showers or has its fragrance carried on the evening breeze, so I wonder about the folk of bygone days: there’s nothing to compare it with, making the Left’s poem as hackneyed as one on Isonokami, yet there’s nothing special about it, like a weed growing under the eaves. The Right’s poem has ‘for today have I awaited’, which I think requires a reference to sweet-flags. My overall impression of both poems is that their conceptions are unclear.
The event was held in the Lady of the Bedchamber’s private apartment, presenting poems on blossoms at the palace. Poems were not presented for the Right.
Plum
かをとめてをりこそしつれむめの花春の霞は立ちかくせども
ka o tomete ori koso shitsure mume no hana haru no kasumi wa tachikakusedomo
To hold their fragrance here, Indeed, have I picked Plum blossoms, though The haze of spring Arise to hide them from my sight…
