梅一輪 一輪ほどの 暖かさ 服部嵐雪
厳しい寒さの続く日は、春の暖かさが待ち遠しいものです。そんな気持ちを表わした俳句を紹介しましょう。
作者の嵐雪は、松尾芭蕉の優れた弟子の一人に数えられ、江戸時代に活躍しました。彼の代表作が冒頭に示した一句です。意味は、「梅の花が一輪咲いた。冬の寒さがほんの少しやわらぐように、その一輪の梅にほのかな春の暖かさを感じるなぁ」。
日本三大随筆の一つである『枕草子』に、清少納言は次のように記しています。「木の花は、濃きも薄きも紅梅（木に咲く花としては、濃い色であっても薄い色であっても赤い梅が素晴らしい）」。現在、春をイメージさせる花としては桜が有名ですが、昔は春の花の代名詞といえば梅でした。奈良時代に成立した『万葉集』にも、桜より梅を詠んだ和歌が多く残されています。
丸みを帯びた花びらの形は可愛らしく、白、ピンク、赤といった色も気持ちを華やかにしてくれます。さらに、春風に運ばれて漂ってくる香りもまた、古来から人々に愛されてきたようです。冬枯れの風景の中、まだ新芽も顔を出さない寒々しい木々の合い間に、そっと花を開く梅。「春告草（はるつげぐさ）」という別名を持つ梅は、私たちが気づかない季節の移り変わりを教えてくれる花なのです。
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A single plum flower, a single flower’s worth of warmth Ransetsu Hattori
During the continuing intense coldness, one can’t wait for the warmth of spring. A haiku expressing such a feeling will be introduced.
Ransetsu the writer was one of the excellent pupils of Basho Matsuo, and was successful during the Edo Period. The poem at the top is his masterpiece. It means, “One plum flower bloomed. As though the winter’s cold is slightly easing, I can feel spring’s faint warmth from that one plum flower.
In one of the three great essays of Japan, “Makura no Soshi or The Pillow Book” Seishonagon noted the following. “Whether they are dark red or light red, all are splendid red plum flowers.”
Today, cherry blossoms are popularly known to be the representational flower for spring, however, long ago; the plum flower was known to be the flower for spring. Plum flowers are also mentioned more than cherry blossoms in the wakas in “Manyoushu or A Collection of a Myriad Leaves”.
The round shape of the petals look very sweet, and the white, pink and red colors can also make you feel lively. On top of this, the scent that floats about and is carried by the spring breeze has also been liked by people since the ancient times. In the withered scenery of winter, between the cold trees where the buds have not shown their faces yet gently blooms the plum flower. The plum flower which is also known as “Harutsugegusa or spring announcing flower” tells us of the changing seasons when we don’t realize it.
