Kuzu no ha ni urami ni kaeru yume no yo o wasuregatami no nobe no akikaze - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

葛の葉にうらみにかへる夢の世を
わすれがたみの野辺の秋風

Roma-ji: Kuzu no ha ni urami ni kaeru yume no yo o wasuregatami no nobe no akikaze
English Translation: Like the arrowroot leaves
turning back to show resentment,
this dream of a world—
a keepsake I cannot forget,
the autumn wind on the moor.
Meaning: Like arrowroot leaves turning to show their undersides, my heart turns back to resentment of this dreamlike world—and the autumn wind on the moor is a keepsake I cannot forget.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1565

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the topic 'Recalling the Past Through the Wind.'"
This is the sixth poem of the sequence expressing personal feelings through the things of autumn. As arrowroot leaves turn over in the wind, the heart turns back to resentment of a dreamlike world, and the autumn wind on the moor blows as a keepsake that will not let it be forgotten. The headnote continues from the preceding poem: it was composed on the topic "Recalling the Past Through the Wind."
The author, "Daughter of Shunzei, Master of the Empress Dowager's Household," was the daughter of Fujiwara no Moriyori and was adopted by her grandfather Fujiwara no Shunzei. She became the wife of Minamoto no Michitomo and served Retired Emperor Go-Toba.
"Recalling the Past Through the Wind" is a topic on longing for the past in association with the wind. Because arrowroot leaves turn over in the wind to show their white undersides, they have been sung with wordplay on "urami," seeing the underside, and "urami," resentment.

The first line, "kuzu no ha ni," presents the arrowroot leaves turning in the autumn wind.
In the second line, "urami ni kaeru," "urami" plays on "urami," seeing the underside of the arrowroot leaves, and "urami," resentment. It overlays the leaves turning over in the wind with the heart returning to resentment.
The third line, "yume no yo o," refers to a world fleeting as a dream. It takes up "wasurenu yume" of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "wasuregatami no," plays on "wasuregatami," hard to forget, and "katami," keepsake. It lays together in one word the feeling that cannot be forgotten and a keepsake that recalls the past.
The last line, "nobe no akikaze," ends on a noun. Setting the wind of the topic as the autumn wind, like the storm in the preceding poem, it sings of a wind that recalls the past. In the autumn wind turning the arrowroot leaves, it entrusts both resentment and longing for a world gone by.
Author: The Daughter of Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Asajiu ya sode ni kuchinishi aki no shimo wasurenu yume o fuku arashi kana
Next Poem: Shiratsuyu wa okinikerashi na Miyagino no motoara no kohagi sue tawamu made