This article is a sequel to the last two articles, Itemization with Two Different Orders and Iroha Uta.

As I already mentioned in the last articles, the poem “Iroha Uta いろは歌(いろはうた)” is very famous among Japanese people. However, its meaning is a little bit difficult to understand even for the Japanese because it is very suggestive and imply something religious. Let me try to explain its meaning line by line.

First, I should start with:

iro ha nihohe do chiri nuru wo

いろはにほへと ちりぬるを

色は匂へど 散りぬるを

This line can be translated to “colors are fragrant, but will scatter”. I think the meaning of “colors are fragrant” is not clear, but if you have a good intuition, you can infer that this is a metaphor for flowers in bloom. So this line can be understood as “flowers are in bloom, but will scatter”. The author seemed to express the impermanence of lives. Even flowers which seem to stay beautiful forever will end their lives and scatter. The meaning of this line will be deepened by the next line:

waga yo tare so tsune nara n

わかよたれそ つねならむ

我が世誰そ 常ならむ

The last letter “mu む” is generally pronounced “n ん” in classical literature. So expressions in alphabets and Hiragana are not matching, but please don’t be confused.

This line, the second line in the poem, can be translated to “in our world, who will stay gold forever?”. I believe that this line is understandable without any additional explanations. Japanese people thought that nobody would be able to stay gold forever. Probably they watched a lot of those in power replaced, purged and killed. This idea is not unique to a man of power, but can be extended to time, season and flowers. Ancient Japanese people love expressing the prosperity and the decay by using flowers, leaves or something seasonal.

The third line, the scene is a little bit changed:

uwi no okuyama kyou koete

ういのおくやま けふこえて

有為の奥山 今日越えて

In classical literature, “けふ” can be pronounced “kyou”. Again, please don’t be confused.

This line can be translated to “The deep mountain of Uwi, we will cross it today”. Perhaps, it’s all Greek to you, in actual, it’s Japanese though… First, let’s think about the mountain part. Apparently, this doesn’t mean that they are crossing the mountain really. Actually, we don’t have the mountain called “Uwi”. Then, what does “the mountain of Uwi” mean? The word “Uwi 有為(うい)” comes from Buddhism and means, say, “karma of human beings”. “Deep mountain” is a metaphor for the accumulation of karma. Then, let’s move to the “cross” part. What does “cross it” mean? Using what I’ve learned so far, I can guess that “it” can be replaced by “Accumulated karma of human beings”. So, “cross it” can be understood as “reach to the place which is free from karma”, or perhaps, “pass away”. In conclusion, the third line can mean “we will be free from the accumulated karma of human beings”.

Then, the last line:

asaki yume miji yoimo sezu

あさきゆめみし ゑいもせす

浅き夢見じ 酔いもせず

“Asaki yumemiji” can be separated into two parts, “asaki yume” and “miji”. The former can be translated to “shallow dream”, but I think “a paper dream” is even better. The latter one “miji” is a verb and can mean “don’t dream”. However, in the former one, we already have the word “dream”, so I will use “don’t have”. Therefore, “asaki yume miji” can be understood as “I don’t have a paper dream”. The rest, “yoimo sezu” can be translated to “I don’t be drunk” because “yoi” can mean “drunkness”, in my opinion this phrase doesn’t mean “drunkness” though. “Be drunk” is in a way “away from reality”, so can be regarded as “dreaming”. Therefore, for the last line, I’d like to understand it as “I don’t have a paper dream. I don’t even dream of it.”

How were my explanations about the poem “iroha uta いろは歌(いろはうた)”. To be honest, it can be read in several ways, so I don’t think one explanation is sufficient. However, I hope that you’ve succeeded in feeling its atmosphere and nuance.