見る人もなくて散りぬる奥山の
紅葉は夜の錦なりけり
紅葉は夜の錦なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Miru hito mo nakute chirinuru okuyama no
momiji wa yoru no nishiki narikeri - English Translation
-
with no one to behold
they scatter and fall away—
deep in the mountains;
these autumn leaves are but
brocade worn in the night
- Meaning
- With no one to see them, the autumn leaves deep in the mountains scatter and fall—they are but brocade worn in the night.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)
Composed when setting out to view the autumn leaves in the northern mountains of Kyoto.
“Brocade at night” comes from a passage in the Records of the Grand Historian (Xiang Yu’s Annals): “To return home in wealth and honor without doing so is like wearing brocade and walking at night,” meaning something splendid that goes unseen and thus is in vain.
Here it laments that the beautiful autumn leaves, like brocade, fall unseen by anyone.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kannabi no Mimuro no yama o aki yukeba
nishiki tachikiru kokochi koso sure - Next Poem
-
Tatsutahime tamukuru kami no areba koso
aki no ko no ha no nusa to chirurame