Kuzu no ha ni aranu wagami mo akikaze no fuku ni tsuketsutsu uramitsuru kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

葛の葉にあらぬ我が身も秋風の
吹くにつけつつうらみつるかな

Roma-ji: Kuzu no ha ni aranu wagami mo akikaze no fuku ni tsuketsutsu uramitsuru kana
English Translation: Though I am no leaf
of the arrowroot vine, still
as the autumn wind
comes blowing, time after time,
I turn, showing my reproach.
Meaning: Though I am no arrowroot leaf, each time the autumn wind blows I too turn and show my underside, reproaching you.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 1243

Headnote: "Sent when the Empress had long been staying at her family home."
This is the third poem of the sequence lamenting estrangement through images of autumn and winter. Though I am no arrowroot leaf, the speaker says, whenever the autumn wind blows, I show my reproach as the leaves show their undersides. According to the headnote, it was sent when the Empress had long been away at her family home.
The author, "Tenryaku Poem," is Emperor Murakami. A son of Emperor Daigo, his reign was praised as the Tenryaku era of good government, alongside his father's Engi era. Tenryaku is an era name of his reign, and "Tenryaku Poem" means a poem composed by Emperor Murakami. "The Empress" in the headnote refers to an empress or imperial consort, and "her family home" is the house to which one retired from court service.
Linking reproach to arrowroot leaves turned over by the autumn wind is a long-standing conceit, as in Taira no Sadafumi's poem in Love Poems V of the Kokinshū, "Blown and turned over by the autumn wind, the arrowroot leaves show their backs: though I reproach you, I reproach you still." This poem belongs to that lineage.

The first line, "kuzu no ha ni," presents arrowroot leaves, which show their white undersides when blown by the autumn wind. Taking up the wind of the preceding poem, it becomes a scene of autumn wind turning the leaves.
The second line, "aranu wagami mo," means "I, too, who am not such a leaf." The particle "mo" draws the parallel: just like the arrowroot leaves.
The third line, "akikaze no," marks the season and adds the loneliness of the Empress's long absence.
The fourth line, "fuku ni tsuketsutsu," means "each time it blows." "Tsutsu" expresses repetition, showing reproach growing with every gust.
In the last line, "uramitsuru kana," "urami" is a pivot word meaning both "showing the underside" of the arrowroot leaf and "reproach." That an emperor should confess reproach at his consort's absence lets a frank feeling show through.
Author: Emperor Murakami
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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