Hatsushigure shinobu no yama no momijiba o arashi fuke to wa somezu ya ariken

English Translation

The first winter showers
dyed the crimson leaves upon
Mount Shinobu—
surely not so that the storm wind
might blow them all away

Meaning

Surely the first winter showers did not dye the leaves of Mount Shinobu crimson only so that the storm wind might come and blow them away.

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 562

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed and presented on the topic 'Falling Leaves' for the Kasuga Shrine Poetry Contest."
This is the tenth poem of the falling-leaves sequence. Surely the first winter showers did not dye the leaves of Mount Shinobu so that the storm might scatter them, the speaker says, regretting the storm that strips the crimson leaves. 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, "Shichijō-in no Dainagon," was a lady-in-waiting to Shichijō-in, Fujiwara no Shokushi, the mother of Retired Emperor Go-Toba. She was a daughter of the Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Sanetsuna, and her mother was Mikawa no Naishi. Since her personal name is not recorded, the designation in the original is used.
The scene is early winter, when the storm blows after the first showers, and the place is Mount Shinobu in Mutsu Province.
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, "hatsushigure," means the first showers of the winter. Showers were thought to dye the leaves to their autumn colors.
The second line, "shinobu no yama no," names a poetic place in Mutsu Province, Mount Shinobu in present-day Fukushima City.
The third line, "momijiba o," refers to the leaves colored by the first showers.
The fourth line, "arashi fuke to wa," means "thinking, 'storm, blow.'" "Fuke" is an imperative, set as words in the mind of the showers that dyed the leaves.
The last line, "somezu ya ariken," means "surely they did not dye them for that." The interrogative particle "ya" is answered by "ken," the attributive form of the auxiliary of past conjecture. Setting two workings of nature against each other, the showers that dye and the storm that scatters, the poem regrets the storm that strips the leaves so lately colored. Where the storms in the poems before were grasped through sound or through confusion of sight, this poem turns a reasoned argument on the differing roles of showers and storm.

Author

Dainagon of Shichijoin

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other