Yū sareba ogi no hamuke o fuku kaze ni koto zo to mo naku namida ochikeri

English Translation

When the evening comes
in the wind that blows across
the set of the reeds
for no reason I can name
the tears have begun to fall

Meaning

When evening comes, in the wind that blows across the leaning reeds, my tears fall for no reason I can give.

Commentary

Book Four Autumn Poems I 304

Headnote: as in the preceding poem, topic unknown.
The second poem on the wind in the reeds. The previous poem foresaw waking at night; here the tears come already at dusk. The original gives no fresh headnote.
The poet, known by his office, is Fujiwara no Sanesada; this is his second appearance in this book, after the two hundred and eighty-eighth poem.
The time is an evening in early autumn; no place is given.
The occasion of composition is not recorded.
The first line of the text does not agree with the phonetic line given beside it; the reading of the text itself is followed here.

The verb in the first line means for a time to come round, so that the phrase means when evening comes. It is the construction noted at the eighth poem of Book One for the arrival of spring.
The word in the second line means the way the leaves are turned, used in Sutoku's two hundred and eighty-sixth poem, so that the two share it.
The particle in the third line marks cause.
The fourth line means without any reason one could name, so that the cause of the tears cannot be fixed. It is the idea of Saigyo's two hundred and ninety-ninth poem, that the wind makes a heart even in the unfeeling; there it was stated as a general truth and here as something happening to the speaker.
An exclamatory auxiliary at the close gives the tone of noticing that the tears had already fallen.

Author

Fujiwara no Sanesada

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other