秋の夜は露こそことに寒からし
草むらごとに虫のわぶれば
草むらごとに虫のわぶれば
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no yo wa tsuyu koso koto ni samukarashi
kusamura goto ni mushi no wabureba - English Translation
-
On autumn nights,
the dew above all seems cold—
for in every clump
of grass the insects lament,
their voices filled with distress.
- Meaning
- On autumn nights, the dew seems especially cold; hearing the insects lamenting in every clump of grass, it feels so.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
Though dew also falls on summer nights, the opening phrase “on autumn nights” evokes a different, colder feeling. The line “in every clump of grass” vividly portrays a night where insects are crying from many places.
“Wabu” means to lament or to cry in distress. The poet seems to understand the insects’ cries as arising from the cold.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- All through autumn nights, not knowing when dawn has come, the insects keep crying— are they, like myself, as well, filled with such sorrowful thoughts?
- As bush clover fades and takes on autumn colors— the cricket’s cry; like me, who cannot find sleep, are its nights filled with sorrow?
- In the ruined home overgrown with grasses of longing— thinking of you, the pine-cricket’s lonely cry sounds all the more sorrowful.
- In autumn fields, I have lost my way among paths— toward the cricket’s cry, perhaps I should make my way and seek a place to lodge the night.