日暮るれば逢ふ人もなしまさき散る
峰の嵐の音ばかりして
峰の嵐の音ばかりして
- Roma-ji
-
Hi kurureba au hito mo nashi masaki chiru mine no arashi no oto bakari shite
- English Translation
-
When the day grows dark
there is no one to be met;
vine leaves scatter down,
and of the storm wind on the peak
only the sound remains
- Meaning
- Once the day has darkened, there is no one left to meet on the mountain path—only the sound of the storm wind on the peak, scattering the leaves of the masaki vine.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Winter Poems 557
Headnote: "On the theme 'Falling Leaves in the Deep Mountains.'"
This is the fifth poem of the falling-leaves sequence. When the day grows dark there is no one to meet in the deep mountains, only the sound of the storm wind on the peak scattering the leaves of the masaki vine. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Falling Leaves in the Deep Mountains."
The author, "Toshiyori Ason," is Minamoto no Toshiyori. A son of the Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu, he compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū at the command of Retired Emperor Shirakawa and wrote the poetic treatise Toshiyori Zuinō.
The scene is nightfall, and the place is the deep mountains where no one comes or goes.
The direct occasion is the topic "Falling Leaves in the Deep Mountains."
In the first line, "hi kurureba," "ba" attached to the perfective form expresses an established condition: "since the day has grown dark."
The second line, "au hito mo nashi," brings the poem to a break after the second line. With no one to meet on the mountain path, a scene of solitude is set.
In the third line, "masaki chiru," "masaki" is short for "masaki no kazura," a climbing vine identified with the Asian star jasmine. The line describes its reddened leaves scattering in the winter storm.
The fourth line, "mine no arashi no," refers to the fierce wind sweeping across the peak. In place of any human presence, the wind takes over the deep mountains.
The last line, "oto bakari shite," means "with only the sound." Ending on "shite," the poem breaks off and leaves a lingering resonance. The falling leaves of the deep mountains are grasped not by sight but by sound, and the next poem, 558, likewise sings of the sound of wind blowing the leaves, continuing the device of knowing winter through sound.
- Author
- Minamoto no Toshiyori
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- Scattering leaves fall and the crimson does not flow on the Ōi River; which one is the weir, and which the brushwood barrier of the stream?
- The river boat slows, barely able to move on, as the crimson leaves flow and drift down with the current of the Ōi River
- Of its own accord, the one thing that makes a sound over the garden whirling up the fallen leaves is the evening wind of the valley
- Leaves scatter down at the lodge where I lie alone; the color of my sleeve— not knowing that it is there, the storm wind passes on