Isuzugawa sora ya madaki ni aki no koe shitatsu iwane no matsu no yūkaze - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

五十鈴川空やまだきに秋の声
下つ岩根の松の夕風

Roma-ji: Isuzugawa sora ya madaki ni aki no koe shitatsu iwane no matsu no yūkaze
English Translation: Isuzu River—
has the sky already, too soon,
the voice of autumn?
On the bedrock deep below,
the evening wind through the pines.
Meaning: By the Isuzu River, has the sky already brought, too soon, the voice of autumn? It is the evening wind through the pines rooted in the bedrock deep below.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1885

Headnote: "On the topic "Enjoying the cool at the shrine.""
This is the fifteenth poem in the sequence concerning the Great Shrine of Ise, and the last of the poems on Ise. By the Isuzu River, the evening wind in the pines rooted in the bedrock makes the poet feel he hears the voice of autumn, though it is still too early. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Enjoying the cool at the shrine." The coolness of the evening wind in the sacred precinct is caught as an early sign of autumn.
The author, Ōnakatomi no Akichika, was of the Ōnakatomi clan, which held the hereditary office of chief priest of the Great Shrine of Ise.

The first line, "Isuzugawa," is the river flowing through the Inner Shrine, the same river as "Isuzu no kawa" in poem 1882 of this book.
The second line, "sora ya madaki ni," means "has the sky, before its time," the particle "ya" carrying a question.
The third line, "aki no koe," is the sound announcing autumn's arrival, and the poem breaks here on a noun.
The fourth line, "shitatsu iwane no," means "of the bedrock deep below." It shares the phrase with "shitatsu iwane ni" in poem 1877 of this book.
The last line, "matsu no yūkaze," is the evening wind blowing through the pines, ending on a noun. The sound of wind in the pines is heard as the "voice of autumn" of the third line.
Author: Ōnakatomi no Akichika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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