秋の月山辺さやかに照らせるは
落つるもみぢの数を見よとか
落つるもみぢの数を見よとか
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no tsuki yamabe sayaka ni teraseru wa
otsuru momiji no kazu o mi yo to ka - English Translation
-
the autumn moonlight
clearly lights the mountain side—
is it so that I
may behold and count them all,
these falling maple leaves?
- Meaning
- The autumn moon shines so clearly upon the mountains—is it that I might see and count the falling maple leaves?
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)
The poem suggests that the moonlight is bright enough to count the falling leaves. It expresses a lingering sense of regret at the passing of the autumn foliage.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- autumn has now come; fallen leaves lie thick at my door— maples strewn below; yet no one comes, parting them, treading through to visit me
- parting them with my steps, shall I go yet further on, to pay a visit— though I see the path ahead hidden by the falling leaves
- the blowing autumn wind seemed in many varied hues— so it appeared; it is but the falling leaves of the trees in autumn time
- warp threads of white frost and weft threads of the dew— how weak they must be; the brocade of the mountain once woven, at once falls apart