is it the grasses’ sleeves
in the autumn fields that I see?
plumes of silver grass
emerging, seem to beckon—
like sleeves that call me near.

Meaning

Are they the sleeves of grasses in the autumn field? The plumes of silver grass, as they emerge, seem like sleeves beckoning someone near.

Commentary

Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)

Composed for a poetry contest in the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.

The sight of flowering susuki swaying in the autumn fields is likened to the gesture of beckoning a beloved. The phrase "ho ni idete" suggests a feeling that cannot be fully concealed, as if longing reveals itself outwardly.

"Tamoto" refers to the pouch-like part beneath the sleeve of a traditional robe.

Author

Ariwara no Muneyoshi

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

a scent without a lord comes drifting forth in fragrance— on autumn fields wide, whose might it be, cast off and left, this wisteria-robe I see?
from this time onward I shall not even plant to see the plume of silver grass— for when its ears emerge in autumn the loneliness grows too deep.
am I alone in this to find such beauty moving? crickets softly cry— in the evening’s fading light blooms the yamato-nadeshiko.
all in shades of green I saw them as a single grass in the springtime fields— yet in autumn they appear as flowers of many hues.

is it the grasses’ sleeves in the autumn fields that I see? plumes of silver grass emerging, seem to beckon— like sleeves that call me near.

is it the grasses’ sleeves
in the autumn fields that I see?
plumes of silver grass
emerging, seem to beckon—
like sleeves that call me near.