物ごとに秋ぞ悲しきもみぢつつ
うつろひ行くをかぎりと思へば
うつろひ行くをかぎりと思へば
- Roma-ji
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Mono goto ni aki zo kanashiki momijitsutsu
utsuroiyuku o kagiri to omoeba - English Translation
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In all things alike
autumn is full of sorrow—
as leaves turn to red,
and pass away in their change,
we feel it marks their end.
- Meaning
- In everything, autumn is a sorrowful season, for as the leaves turn red and change, we feel that it marks their end.
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
The poem expresses the sadness and loneliness of endings, as trees take on their vivid autumn colors and then gradually fade and fall.
It may suggest not only the passing of the season, but also a deeper sorrow for all things that come to an end.
“Momijitsutsu” derives from “momizu,” meaning that plants and trees take on autumn colors, with “tsutsu” indicating continuation.
“Kagiri” means a limit or an end.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- As autumn comes on through all the world around me— then it is that I come to know within myself how sorrowful I truly am.
- Not for me alone does the coming autumn arrive— yet when I hear the voices of the insects, at once my heart grows sad.
- Though where I lie alone is no bed of grass and leaves— on autumn nights, it seems as though it is wet with the dew that settles there.
- At no set time are such thoughts confined—yet still, on autumn nights, they reach their utmost depth, with no end to pondering.