From this very time
when lower leaves of bush clover
take on autumn hues,
shall one who lies down alone
find it ever hard to sleep?
- Meaning
- From the time when the lower leaves of bush clover begin to turn color, will one who sleeps alone find it hard to sleep?
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
As autumn deepens, the leaves of bush clover fade in color, and the nights grow longer and colder. The poet wonders whether, from this time on, those who sleep alone will find it harder to rest, weighed down by loneliness.
“Hitori aru hito” refers to one who sleeps alone, and in this poem it points to the poet themself.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- When autumn bush clover has come now into bloom, on Takasago’s peak the stag upon the mountain must now be crying as well.
- On old branches of autumn bush clover now bloom flowers I behold— and the heart I once had then has not been forgotten yet.
- Do the passing geese as they cry across the sky shed their falling tears? On bush clover in this house where I brood, the drops of dew.
- The dewdrops on bush clover— to thread them as shining beads I took them in hand, but they vanished all away;— if one would see, see them there.