Irihi sasu saho no yamabe no hahasohara kumoranu ame to konoha furitsutsu

English Translation

In the setting sun
by the hills of Saho, where
the oak groves stand, fall
leaves like a rain that comes down
from a sky without a cloud

Meaning

In the oak groves on the slopes of Saho, where the evening sun shines, the leaves keep falling like rain from a cloudless sky.

Commentary

Book Five Autumn Poems II 529

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the seventh poem of the autumn-leaves sequence. In the oak groves on the slopes of Saho, lit by the setting sun, leaves keep falling like rain from a cloudless sky. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author was a mid-Heian poet also called Sotan from his post as Secretary of Tango.
The scene is a late-autumn evening, in the oak groves near Mount Saho, a poetic place in Yamato where the oaks' autumn colors are sung of.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "irihi sasu," means "where the setting sun shines," the same opening as 513.
The second line means "on the slopes of Mount Saho."
In the third line, "hahaso" is an old name for deciduous oaks such as konara; the evening sun falls on their grove.
The fourth line, "kumoranu ame to," means "as rain from a cloudless sky," likening the falling leaves to rain.
In the last line, "tsutsu" expresses continuation, ending with leaves falling on and on. Under a clear sky lit by the setting sun, the scattering leaves are likened to steady rain, layering light and falling foliage. Poems 525 through 527 treated the relation of showers and autumn leaves; this one, beneath a rainless sky, likens the leaves themselves to rain, turning the convention of showers into a visual metaphor. "Hahasohara" is also the first line of 531.

Author

Sone no Yoshitada

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other