Konoha chiru shigure ya magau waga sode ni moroki namida no iro to miru made

English Translation

Leaves scatter down—
are they mingling with the showers?
On my sleeve they fall
until they seem the color
of my tears so quick to flow

Meaning

Are the falling leaves mingling with the winter showers? Upon my sleeve they seem to take on the very color of my tears, which spill so easily.

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 560

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed and presented on the topic 'Falling Leaves' for the Kasuga Shrine Poetry Contest."
This is the eighth poem of the falling-leaves sequence. The speaker wonders whether the falling leaves are mingling with the winter showers, for on his sleeve they seem to take on the crimson color of tears that spill so easily. The headnote continues from the preceding poem, and this poem was composed on the topic "Falling Leaves" at the same Kasuga Shrine Poetry Contest.
The author, "Intendant of the Right Gate Guards Michitomo," is Minamoto no Michitomo. A son of the Palace Minister Minamoto no Michichika, he was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokin Wakashū.
The scene is winter as leaves fall together with the showers; no place is specified, and the view narrows to the author's own sleeve.
As with the preceding poem, the direct occasion is the topic "Falling Leaves" at the Kasuga Shrine Poetry Contest of Genkyū 1 (1204).

The first line, "konoha chiru," repeats the first line of the preceding poem. Poems from the same contest on the same topic are arranged so that they open with the same words.
In the second line, "shigure ya magau," "magau" means to mingle until the two can no longer be told apart. The interrogative particle "ya" is answered by the attributive "magau," wondering whether the falling leaves and the showers have become confused, and the poem breaks after the second line.
With the third line, "waga sode ni," the scene moves onto the speaker's own sleeve. Taking up "sode no iro" from the preceding poem, this poem too places the sleeve at its center.
In the fourth line, "moroki namida no," "moroki" means "easily spilled." It speaks of being quick to weep, of tears that flow at once in sorrow.
The last line, "iro to miru made," means "until they seem to be the color of tears." Breaking off with "made," it turns back to the question in the second line in an inverted structure. Where the preceding poem made the crimson of the sleeve something the storm never notices, this poem makes the crimson of the falling leaves themselves appear as the color of tears on the sleeve, approaching the overlay of autumn leaves and crimson tears from another direction.

Author

Minamoto no Michitomo

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other