[15] きみがためは (Kimigatameha)

 Poem Meaning and Background

Picture from Ikiru.tv

きみがため・はるののにいでて・わかなつむ

kimi ga tame・haru no no ni idete・wakana tsumu

わがころもでに・ゆきはふりつつ

waga koromode ni・yuki wa furi tsutsu

~ 光孝天皇(Kōkō Tennō)

Translation

It is for your sake

That I walk the fields in spring,

Gathering green herbs,

While my garment's hanging sleeves

Are speckled with falling snow.

Meaning

    There is a sweet simplicity to this poem. Each line contains clear images: spring fields, green herbs, kimono sleeves, falling snow. It is thought that eating young herbs collected around New Year's will ward off illness and misfortune, so it is supposed that the author, Emperor Kōkō (at the time, still an Imperial Prince), was collecting these greens to give to someone close to him. This poem carries with it the kindness of his gesture. 

    In modern day Japan, on the 7th day of the new year there is a custom of eating 七草がゆ(nana kusa gayu), a dish made with 7 early spring vegetables. This custom has its roots (excuse the pun) in one of the traditional ceremonies of the Japanese imperial court, which in turn seems to have adopted this practice from China. 

Author

     Emperor Kōkō (830-887)  was the 58th emperor and succeeded the throne after the previous emperor was deposed, having been deemed unfit to reign.  The 57th emperor was his nephew and son-in-law Emperor Yōzei, author of poem [13] Tsuku. One of his grandsons, Prince Motoyoshi, did not succeed the throne, but did author another poem in the anthology, [20] Wabi.  His great-grandson, Taira no Kanemori authored [40] Shino.