[61] いに (Ini)

 Poem Meaning and Background

"Cherry Blossoms at Yoshino", by the artist Hokusai

いにしへの・ならのみやこの・やへざくら
inishie no・Nara no miyako no・yae-zakura

けふうここのへに・にほひぬるかな
kyo kokonoe ni・nioi nuru kana

〜伊勢大輔（Ise no Taifu）

Translation

Eight-fold cherry flowers

That at Nara — ancient seat

Of our state — have bloomed,

In our nine-fold palace court

Shed their sweet perfume today.

Meaning

The author of this poem, Ise no Taifu, was a lady in the court of Empress Shōshi, who was the second Empress of Emperor Ichijō. The Emperor had received a gift of 八重桜 (yae-zakura, cherry trees) from Nara, and he asked Murasaki Shikibu, another talented poet and lady of Empress Shōshi's court, to write a poem to express thanks for this gift. Murasaki Shikibu ended up giving the role of writing this poem over to her contemporary, Ise no Taifu. This was the poem she composed for the occasion. 

いにしへ(inishie) means a long time ago, referring to the "ancient" capital (都、miyako) of Nara, which was the capital of Japan during the Nara period. She refers to the imperial court as 九重(kokonoe), or the "nine-fold palace court", because at the time, Chinese-style palaces were surrounded with 9 gates. The author carefully chooses her words, comparing the "ancient" capital to the flowers blooming "today", and relating the "eight-fold" cherry blossoms to the "nine-fold" palace court. The repetition of the の(no) sound also lends a pleasant rhythmical quality to the poem. 

Author

Ise no Taifu (dates unknown) was also known as Ise no Ōsuke or Ise no Taiyū was the granddaughter of Onakatomi no Yoshinobu, author of [49] Mikaki. Her father was the director of the Ise Shrine, and she was a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi, along with Murasaki Shikibu ([57] Me), Izumi Shikibu ([56] Araza), and Akazome Emon ([59] Yasu).