Asajiu ya sode ni kuchinishi aki no shimo wasurenu yume o fuku arashi kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

浅茅生や袖に朽ちにし秋の霜
忘れぬ夢を吹く嵐かな

Roma-ji: Asajiu ya sode ni kuchinishi aki no shimo wasurenu yume o fuku arashi kana
English Translation: Low reeds all around—
the frost of autumn that decayed
upon my sleeves:
the storm wind blows away
the dream I cannot forget.
Meaning: The field of low reeds—the autumn frost that has rotted on my sleeves—and the storm wind that blows through the dream I cannot forget.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1564

Headnote: "On the topic 'Recalling the Past Through the Wind.'"
This is the fifth poem of the sequence expressing personal feelings through the things of autumn. In a ruined garden of low reeds, the poet thinks of his tear-stained sleeves rotted as if by autumn frost, and of the storm that blows away the dream of the past he cannot forget. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Recalling the Past Through the Wind."
The author, "Michiteru, Intendant of the Left Gate Guards," was the son of Palace Minister Minamoto no Michichika. After serving as Intendant of the Left Gate Guards, he later rose to Grand Minister.
"Recalling the Past Through the Wind" is a topic on longing for the past in association with the wind.

In the first line, "asajiu ya," "asajiu" refers to a place overgrown with low reeds, showing a ruined garden. "Ya" is an exclamatory interjection, and the poem breaks after the first line.
The second line, "sode ni kuchinishi," means "that has rotted away on my sleeves." It shows sleeves long wet with tears of longing for the past.
The third line, "aki no shimo," is frost on the sleeves, suggesting frozen tears. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "wasurenu yume o," refers to an unforgettable dream of the past. It takes up the recalling of the past in the topic.
The last line, "fuku arashi kana," takes up the wind of the topic, exclaiming at the storm that blows away the dream of the past. Taking up the tears on waking in the preceding poem, it sets a storm that breaks the dream, and the next poem, on the same topic, also sings of a dreamlike world.
Author: Minamoto no Michiteru
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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