#252 it is there that I see the flowers I have cherished in my heart,…
| Size： | about 33×24 cm |
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| Dressing： | framed |
What kind of verse?
| verse: | Yoshino yama, kumo wo hakari ni, tadune iri te, kokoro ni kake shi, hana wo miru kana |
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| (imho): | When I make my way to Mount Yoshino relying on the clouds, it is there that I see the flowers I have cherished in my heart. |
| poet: | Saigyo |
| in: | 12th century |
The Same Poem, a Different Season
This is the second time I’ve written this waka by Saigyō.
The first time, I wrote it in large characters on a long, narrow sheet of paper. In that piece, I tried to convey the sense of entering deep into the misty hills of Yoshino, finally encountering the cherry blossoms he had carried in his mind.
This time, I approached the same poem from a very different angle.
I chose a smaller paper and wrote the characters much more compactly. The paper itself is printed with a pattern of snow-laden bamboo leaves, reflecting the coldness of the season right now.
Rather than writing about cherry blossoms in the midst of spring, this piece invites the viewer to imagine them when spring still feels distant.
That difference in mood gives the poem a completely new expression.
Whereas Saigyō’s figure once seemed to move through the outer landscape, in this piece his presence feels like a quiet inward journey.
The small characters seem to hold the longing for blossoms not yet seen, settled gently in the depths of the heart.
Even with the same poem, the choice of paper, the size of the characters, and the season in which it is written can change the way it is experienced.
It’s fascinating how such shifts alter not only the physical form but the emotional landscape itself.