Onozukara oto suru mono wa niwa no omo ni konoha fukimaku tani no yūkaze

English Translation

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

Meaning

The only thing that stirs a sound of its own accord is the evening wind from the valley, swirling the fallen leaves across the garden.

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 558

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the sixth poem of the falling-leaves sequence. The one thing that makes a sound of its own accord is the evening wind from the valley, whirling the leaves across the garden. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Kiyosuke Ason," is Fujiwara no Kiyosuke. A son of the Master of the Western Capital Office Fujiwara no Akisuke, he was a poet of the Rokujō Fujiwara house and wrote the poetic treatises Fukuro Zōshi and Ōgishō. He compiled the Shoku Shikashū at the command of Emperor Nijō, but the emperor's death kept it from becoming an imperial anthology.
The scene is evening, and the place is the garden of a dwelling facing a valley.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "onozukara," means "of itself" or "naturally." It signals at the outset that this is no sound made by any person.
The second line, "oto suru mono wa," presents the theme: "the thing that makes a sound." Taking up "oto bakari shite" of the preceding poem, it moves to reveal what the source of the sound is.
The third line, "niwa no omo ni," means "upon the surface of the garden" and runs to six syllables, one over the count. The scene shifts from the mountain peak of the preceding poem to the garden of a dwelling.
The fourth line, "konoha fukimaku," means "blowing so as to whirl up the leaves."
The last line, "tani no yūkaze," closes on a noun, revealing the source of the sound only at the end. Against the "storm wind on the peak" of the preceding poem stands "the evening wind of the valley," setting peak against valley and storm against evening breeze.

Author

Fujiwara no Kiyosuke

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other