Fukaki yo no mado utsu ame ni oto senu wa ukiyo o noki no shinobu narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

深き夜の窓打つ雨に音せぬは
憂き世をのきのしのぶなりけり

Roma-ji: Fukaki yo no mado utsu ame ni oto senu wa ukiyo o noki no shinobu narikeri
English Translation: Deep into the night,
in the rain that beats the window,
that which makes no sound
is the fern on eaves of one who's left the world—
enduring, it is, and still.
Meaning: What makes no sound in the rain beating on the window deep in the night is the shinobu fern on the eaves of one who has withdrawn from the world, silently enduring.
Commentary: Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1949

Headnote: "On the meaning of 'Though they strike him with swords, staves, tiles, and stones, he should endure, keeping the Buddha in mind,' from the Teacher of the Law chapter."
This is the fifth poem in the sequence of poems by various poets on phrases from the scriptures. What makes no sound in the rain beating on the window late at night is the shinobu fern on the eaves of one who has withdrawn from the sorrowful world, silently enduring. According to the headnote, it was composed on the meaning of "Though they strike him with swords, staves, tiles, and stones, he should endure, keeping the Buddha in mind" from the Teacher of the Law chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
The teaching that one who preaches the Law should endure persecution while keeping the Buddha in mind is entrusted to the shinobu fern on the eaves, which makes no sound though beaten by rain.
The author, "Jakuren Hōshi," was named Fujiwara no Sadanaga as a layman. A nephew of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he became Shunzei's adopted son. After taking vows he remained active as a poet and was appointed a compiler of the Shin Kokinshū, but died before its completion.
The Teacher of the Law chapter teaches that one who preaches the Lotus Sutra, even if reviled and struck with swords, staves, tiles, and stones, should endure while keeping the Buddha in mind.
"Rain beating on the window" in the second line derives from the phrase "the sound of dark rain, pattering, beating on the window" in "The White-Haired Lady of Shangyang" in the Collected Works of Bai Juyi.

The first line, "fukaki yo no," is late at night, marking the lonely hour of one living in seclusion.
The second line, "mado utsu ame ni," is rain beating on the window, transposing the scripture's persecution with "swords, staves, tiles, and stones" into beating rain.
The third line, "oto senu wa," means "what makes no sound," showing endurance without a cry though beaten.
In the fourth line, "ukiyo o noki no," "noki" is a pivot word joining "withdrawing" from the sorrowful world and the "eaves" of a house.
In the last line, "shinobu narikeri," "shinobu" is a pivot word joining the "shinobu fern" that grows on eaves and "enduring." With "keri" of realization, the poem closes by revealing what it is that makes no sound.
Author: Jakuren
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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