岩垣彦明

詞書

雨中九日

本文

芳菊香莄佳節名。
徴風細雨素秋情。
蕭條意適陶家酒。
漫把一盃泛落英。

署名

彦明拝

読み下だし

英訳

Fragrant chrysanthemums, scented dogwood, famous this festive day.
A slight breeze, fine rain, a typical autumn scene.
The dreary atmosphere -- just the time for the wine of Master T'ao.
Let's take the fallen petals, float them in wine to our heart's content.

Line one: The chrysanthemum, an autumn flower, is a major symbol in Chinese religious and literary contexts where it stands for long life or aspirations to the same. It is closely associated with the ninth month in the lunar calendar and particularly, with the Double-Ninth Festival in autumn.
　　The plant 萸 is the small, early summer-flowering dogwood belonging to the mandarin family, Jp. shuyu 茱萸, (more technically known as goshuyu 呉茱萸 Evodia rutaecarpa), which has a lovely scent. Its red berry was believed to have medicinal value and is still used in herbal preparations. On the Double-Ninth it was customary to decorate one's hair with the fragrant, tart berries as part of a ritual practice to ward off ills. Dogwood sprigs were also put into small bags and carried on excursions into the hills as amulets.

Line three: Master T'ao is a reference to T'ao Ch'ien ( 365 - 427, one of China's greatest poets in the eremitic tradition. In 405, he resigned his position as a local magistrate and retired, devoting the remaining two decades of his life to farming, writing poetry, and enjoying wine and music. Chrysanthemums are intimately associated with his name. In his famous series of twenty-five poems on the pleasures of wine, T'ao tells us how he would pluck chrysanthemums growing near his hedge and float their dewy petals in wine. This series contains the earliest known references to drinking chrysanthemum wine, in which both the petals and the leaves of the plant were steeped in liquor for a full year prior to being consumed.

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