Yuku aki no katami narubeki momijiba wa asu wa shigure to furi ya magawan

English Translation

The autumn leaves meant
to be keepsakes of the fall
as it slips away—
will they by tomorrow fall
mingled with the winter rain?

Meaning

The autumn leaves that should be keepsakes of the departing season—will they tomorrow fall so thick they cannot be told from the showers?

Commentary

Book Five Autumn Poems II 545

Headnote: "At the Poetry Contest in 1,500 Rounds."
This is the twenty-third poem of the autumn-leaves sequence. The poet regrets that the autumn leaves, which should be keepsakes of the departing season, may tomorrow fall so thickly they cannot be told from the showers. According to the headnote, it was composed for the Poetry Contest in 1,500 Rounds.
The author was a courtier of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods who served as Provisional Middle Counselor, among other posts.
The scene is the end of autumn with winter near, on a mountain where autumn leaves remain.
The direct occasion was the Poetry Contest in 1,500 Rounds, completed around 1202.

The first line, "yuku aki no," means "of the departing autumn."
In the second line, "beki" is the attributive of "beshi" expressing what should be: "that ought to be a keepsake." Like 452 and 537, it speaks of a "keepsake of autumn."
In the third line, "wa" marks the autumn leaves, which should be keepsakes, as the topic.
The fourth line, "asu wa shigure to," means "tomorrow, as showers," pointing to the shift into the season of early winter showers.
In the last line, "ya" is interrogative, "magau" means to mingle until indistinguishable, and "n" is the attributive of the conjectural "mu," completing the binding. The leaves one would keep as autumn's keepsakes will, come winter, fall so thick they cannot be told from the showers—a lament for autumn's end. Where 537 would break off such keepsakes even at the cost of getting wet, this poem sees them as scattering beyond keeping, pairing the wish to hold a keepsake with the foreboding of its loss. Likening leaves to rain is shared with 529 and 543.

Author

Fujiwara no Kanemune

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other