Has autumn come,
or is it the dew—
so I wonder,
for what falls in truth
is but my tears.
- Meaning
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Has autumn come, or is it the dew?—so I wonder; for what falls in truth is but my tears.
- Commentary
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Episode Sixteen: "Folding the fingers"
Ki no Aritsune, who had served three reigns, lost in political strife and fell into poverty, forced to live in hardship.
Accustomed to an elegant life, he knew little of the world’s common ways and suffered greatly.
At last, even the wife who had long shared his life became a nun and left him.
This poem was added by Aritsune to the poem he sent in thanks for the robes and bedding for a nun that his friend had provided, replying to, "Is this indeed the robe of feathers of a heavenly maid? No wonder it was worn by one such as you."
Even after his fall, Aritsune’s close ties with a friend who treated him with deep consideration are depicted.
His character is described as noble in the Sandai Jitsuroku, and perhaps because of that very character he was defeated in political strife with the Fujiwara clan.
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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