百年の秋の嵐は過ぐしきぬ
いづれの暮れの露と消えなん
いづれの暮れの露と消えなん
- Roma-ji
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Momotose no aki no arashi wa sugushikinu izure no kure no tsuyu to kienan
- English Translation
-
The storms of autumn
of a hundred years I've passed
safely on my way—
at the end of which autumn, then,
shall I vanish like the dew?
- Meaning
- I have come through the autumn storms of a hundred years—at the close of which autumn, I wonder, will I vanish like the dew?
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1570
Headnote: "Composed at the end of autumn, lamenting that I had grown old."
This is the eleventh poem of the sequence expressing personal feelings through the things of autumn. The poet has come through the autumn storms of a hundred years, and wonders at the end of which autumn he will vanish like the dew. According to the headnote, it was composed at the end of autumn, lamenting that he had grown old.
The author, "Anpō Hōshi," was a great-grandson of Minister of the Left Minamoto no Tōru, with the lay name Minamoto no Shitagau. After taking the tonsure, he lived at the Kawara-in, Tōru's former mansion.
The first line, "momotose no," means a hundred years, exaggerating the long years he has lived.
The second line, "aki no arashi wa," refers to the storms that raged every autumn. It overlays the hardships of life as well.
The third line, "sugushikinu," uses the perfective "nu," meaning "I have come through," and the poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "izure no kure no," means "at the end of which autumn." He thinks of an end that may come at any time.
The last line, "tsuyu to kienan," adds the conjectural "n" to the emphatic "na," meaning "will surely vanish like the dew." Like "mashite kienan tsuyu no yūgure" of 1561 in this book, it likens an aged self to vanishing dew.
- Author
- Anpō
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Yamazato ni kuzu haikakaru matsugaki no hima naku mono wa aki zo kanashiki
- Next Poem
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Aki hatsuru Hatsuka no yama no sabishiki ni ariake no tsuki o tare to miruran