おなじ枝をわきて木の葉をうつろふは
西こそ秋のはじめなりけれ
西こそ秋のはじめなりけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Onaji eda o wakite ko no ha o utsurou wa
nishi koso aki no hajime narikere - English Translation
-
though from the selfsame branch
the leaves begin to change their hues—
it is from the west
that autumn first arrives, and thus
the turning colors come to be.
- Meaning
- Though they are from the same branch, the leaves begin to change color from the west; it is from the west that autumn first begins.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)
In the reign of Emperor Seiwa, at the Ryōkiden, a branch of a plum tree that extended toward the west began to turn color, and the courtiers composed poems on it; this poem was composed on that occasion.
According to the theory of the Five Elements, east corresponds to spring, south to summer, west to autumn, and north to winter. Thus, the reason the leaves began to change on the western branch is expressed as autumn arriving from the west.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Katsumine
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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