秋風の音せざりせば白露の
軒の忍ぶにかからましやは
軒の忍ぶにかからましやは
- Roma-ji
-
Akikaze no oto sezariseba shiratsuyu no noki no shinobu ni kakaramashi ya wa
- English Translation
-
Had the autumn wind
never made a single sound,
would the silver dew
ever come to settle on
the shinobu of your eaves?
- Meaning
- Had the autumn wind made no sound, would the white dew ever have come to rest on the shinobu fern of your eaves?
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1733
Headnote: "Reply."
This is the second of an exchange on the shinobu fern, a reply to the preceding poem. Had the autumn wind made no sound, the white dew would never have settled on the fern of the eaves. Likening the sound of the wind to news of her illness and the dew to himself who came to visit, he modestly answers that he came only because word reached him.
The author, "Major Counselor Tsunenobu," is Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A son of Minamoto no Michikata, he rose to Major Counselor. Gifted in poetry and music, he was called the Katsura Major Counselor.
The first line, "akikaze no," takes up "the autumn dusk" of the preceding poem. The autumn wind stands for news of her illness.
In the second line, "oto sezariseba," "seba" is the irrealis of the past auxiliary "ki" with "ba," answering "mashi" in the last line to form a counterfactual.
The third line, "shiratsuyu no," is a figure for the poet himself, who came to visit.
The fourth line, "noki no shinobu ni," takes up the "shinobu fern" of the preceding poem. The fern on the eaves stands for her dwelling, and the dew settling on it for his visits.
In the last line, "kakaramashi ya wa," "mashi" is counterfactual and "ya wa" a rhetorical final particle. Meaning "would it have settled there? It would not," it credits his visits to the news and gently deflects her thanks.
- Author
- Minamoto no Tsunenobu
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ureshisa wa wasure ya wa suru shinobugusa shinoburu mono o aki no yūgure
- Next Poem
-
Shinobugusa ika naru tsuyu ka okitsuramu kesa wa ne mo mina arawarenikeri