through Suminoe pines
the autumn wind begins to blow—
and with added sound
the white waves off the open sea
rise and join their voices too

Meaning

As the autumn wind blows through the pines of Suminoe, the white waves offshore add their sound and resound together.

Commentary

Book Seven Felicitations

An autumn poem among those written on a screen painted with scenes of the four seasons, at the fortieth-year celebration banquet of Fujiwara no Sadakuni, composed by the Naishi-no-Kami.

The poem describes a landscape of pine trees growing along the shore and waves rising upon the sea. Though inspired by a painted screen, the added imagery of the autumn wind and the sound of the waves makes the reader imagine standing within the scene itself.

“Koe” here means not a voice but a sound, and “uchisofuru” means to add or accompany, with “uchi” serving as a prefix indicating the action.

Author

Oshikochi no Mitsune

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

the mountain is high so in the clouds they appear— the cherry blossoms never a day does my heart not go there and long to pluck
not a rare voice and yet the cuckoo’s calling— through these many years never does it weary me still it leaves me unsated

through Suminoe pines the autumn wind begins to blow— and with added sound the white waves off the open sea rise and join their voices too

through Suminoe pines
the autumn wind begins to blow—
and with added sound
the white waves off the open sea
rise and join their voices too