Iro kawaru tsuyu oba sode ni oki mayoi uragarete yuku nobe no aki kana

English Translation

Dew of changing hues
settling on my sleeves in waves,
strewn in disarray—
withering from the tips now,
autumn in the meadow fields

Meaning

Dew that has changed its color falls in disarray upon my sleeves—autumn in the fields, withering from the tips.

Commentary

Book Five Autumn Poems II 516

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "At the Poetry Contest in 1,500 Rounds."
This is the second poem of the late-autumn sequence. Dew of changing color falls in disarray on the sleeves, and the fields' autumn withers from the tips. The headnote continues from the preceding poem: it was composed for the Poetry Contest in 1,500 Rounds.
No author's name is given for this poem, which is placed as Shunzei's Daughter's, continuing the attribution of the preceding poem. The author was actually Fujiwara no Shunzei's granddaughter and became his adopted daughter; she was a lady-in-waiting and poet in the service of Retired Emperor Go-Toba.
The scene is late autumn as plants wither, in dewy fields.
The direct occasion was the Poetry Contest in 1,500 Rounds, completed around 1202.

The first line, "iro kawaru," means "changing in color," describing dew that reflects the reddening grasses; as dew on the sleeves, it also suggests tears changed in color by grief.
In the second line, "oba" combines "o" and "wa," setting the dew off emphatically.
The third line, "oki mayoi," means dew settling in disarray. "Oki mayou" appears also in 487 and 507, but there it meant moonlight mistaken for frost; here it describes the dew itself settling in disorder on the sleeves.
In the fourth line, "ura" is the tip of a plant: "withering from the tips," the same word as in 488.
In the last line, "kana" is exclamatory, closing the poem after a noun. Layering color-changing dew and withering fields, it grieves the fading autumn with the feeling of tears on the sleeves. Whereas 515 sang of the path to a house no one visits, this poem sings of withering fields, portraying late-autumn loneliness at home and in the fields.

Author

The Daughter of Fujiwara no Shunzei

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other