花薄秋の末葉になりぬれば
ことぞともなく露ぞこぼるる
ことぞともなく露ぞこぼるる
- Roma-ji
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Hanasusuki aki no sueba ni narinureba koto zo to mo naku tsuyu zo koboruru
- English Translation
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The plumed pampas grass,
now that it has come to be
autumn's last leaves,
though there's no cause, no reason,
lets its dewdrops spill and fall.
- Meaning
- Now that the plumed pampas grass has come to autumn's last leaves, without any particular reason its dewdrops spill—and so do my tears.
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1572
Headnote: "Composed when presenting pampas grass to Retired Emperor Sutoku around the ninth month."
This is the thirteenth poem of the sequence expressing personal feelings through the things of autumn. Now that the pampas grass has come to autumn's last leaves, the poet says, dew spills from it for no particular reason. According to the headnote, it was composed when presenting pampas grass to Retired Emperor Sutoku around the ninth month.
The author, "Yukimune, Minister of the Treasury," was the son of Consultant Minamoto no Motohira. He rose to Minister of the Treasury.
The first line, "hanasusuki," refers to pampas grass in plume. It is a representative feature of the autumn moor.
In the second line, "aki no sueba ni," "sueba" overlays leaves at the tips with the end of autumn. It shows pampas grass in late autumn.
The third line, "narinureba," adds "ba" to the perfective form of the perfective "nu" to state a fixed condition: "because it has become."
The fourth line, "koto zo to mo naku," means "for no particular reason."
The last line, "tsuyu zo koboruru," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "zo" with the attributive form "koboruru." It overlays the dew spilling from the pampas grass with tears that spill for no reason. It is the same line as "tsuyu zo koboruru," the last line of 1563 in this book, entrusting the tears of autumn lament to the dew.
- Author
- Minamoto no Yukimune
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Aki hatsuru Hatsuka no yama no sabishiki ni ariake no tsuki o tare to miruran
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Yowa ni fuku arashi ni tsukete omou kana miyako mo kaku ya aki wa sabishiki