Momijiba wa ono ga sometaru iro zo kashi yosoge ni okeru kesa no shimo kana

English Translation

The crimson leaves—
it was you who dyed them
this very color!
And yet you lie there so aloof,
you frost of this morning

Meaning

Those crimson leaves bear the very color you dyed them yourself—and yet there you lie upon them, as if they had nothing to do with you, frost of this morning!

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 602

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the twelfth poem of the winter-moon sequence. The word "moon" does not appear in it, however; it sings of the morning frost lying aloof upon the crimson leaves, though it was the frost itself that dyed them. The headnote continues from the preceding poem with no topic given, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Former Archbishop Jien," is Jien. A son of the Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi, he served four times as Tendai Abbot and wrote the historical work Gukanshō.
The scene is a winter morning with frost, and the place is where frost lies upon the crimson leaves.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "momijiba wa," means "the crimson leaves."
The second line, "ono ga sometaru," means "which you yourself dyed," addressing the frost directly. Frost, along with dew and showers, was held to dye the leaves.
The third line, "iro zo kashi," means "is the very color, you know," with "zo kashi" pressing the point home. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "yosoge ni okeru," means "lying there as if it had nothing to do with you," with "yosoge" describing an aloof manner.
The last line, "kesa no shimo kana," closes with the exclamatory particle "kana." The poem personifies and reproaches the frost, which dyed the leaves yet lies white upon them as if it knew nothing of it. Like 580 in this book, which asked the showers what they would dye, it addresses a dyeing force of nature, and the dyer shifts from showers to frost. Following the frosty night that froze the sleeves in the preceding poem, it moves on to the frost of the next morning.

Author

Jien

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other