手折らるゝ人に薫るや梅の花 taoraruru hito ni kaoru ya ume no hana Chiyojo - To the person breaking off the branch, giving its fragrance, the plum blossom

Kaga no Chiyo's verse is about answering harm with kindness. Someone breaks a branch from the plum tree, and the plum gives that person its scent. She gave the verse a title that says so: on repaying enmity with kindness. The verse has two faces, a flower and a person who returns good for harm. Critics have found it too neat, and ordinary readers have kept it as a saying to live by.

In the Japanese, 手折らるゝ人に is to the person by whom it is broken off. The verb is passive, so the plum is the subject and the one who breaks it receives the scent. 薫るや is it gives its scent, and 梅の花, the plum blossom, is the season word for spring. One of the hands writes 薫る and 梅 in kana, as かおる and うめ, an artistic choice, and another writes 人 as ひと.

The English is Timothy L. Jackowski's, made for Takase Studios.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 手折らるゝ人に薫るや梅の花.

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