Word and Image

[karadin.livejournal.com]

How invisibly
It changes color
In this world
The flower
Of the human heart


Ono no Komachi

Comments

[wongkk.livejournal.com]

Ah - surely the heart is the ROOT, i.e. the source, of the flower? The "flower of the human heart" is the part that shows (above the ground or in daily life to other people - however you like to think of it!) and which changes colour, while the root remains unseen, and probably unchanged. No?

That was how I read it.

[lilyginnyblack.livejournal.com]

Oh, true. Good point. I like how you read into that.

The heart as the root or source of the flower, yes, because it is our hearts that hold the emotions, which can then bloom or blossom according to how we interact with other human beings and events in our lives, like a flower opens its petals. I like that idea a lot. ^^

[wongkk.livejournal.com]

Yep - that's what I got from the poem! You've paraphrased it very well.

[lilyginnyblack.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^^