Kono tabi wa nusa mo toriaezu tamukeyama momiji no nishiki kami no manimani - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

このたびは幣もとりあへず手向山
紅葉の錦神のまにまに

Roma-ji: Kono tabi wa nusa mo toriaezu tamukeyama momiji no nishiki kami no manimani
English Translation: On this journey, I
could not bring an offering;
here at Mount Tamuke,
this brocade of autumn leaves—
let the gods take as they will.
Meaning: This journey came so suddenly that I could not prepare an offering. So on Mount Tamuke I offer instead this brocade of autumn leaves; may the gods accept it as they please.
Commentary: Book Nine Travel Poems 420

Headnote: "When the Retired Emperor of Suzaku-in went to Nara, composed at Mount Tamuke"
This poem was composed on Mount Tamuke while the poet attended the retired emperor on his journey to Nara. In the rush of travel he had no offering ready for the gods, so he likens the whole mountainside of autumn leaves to brocade and offers it in place of the usual gift, turning the beauty of the autumn hills into an offering to the gods.
"Suzaku-in" in the headnote refers to Retired Emperor Uda, who made the Suzaku-in his residence after abdicating. In the first year of Shōtai he traveled to Nara and Yoshino, and Michizane accompanied him. Mount Tamuke is thought to be the hill near Tōdai-ji where the Tamukeyama Hachiman Shrine stands. The poem is also included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The author, "Sugawara no Ason," is Sugawara no Michizane. Born into a family of scholars, he was favored by Emperor Uda and rose to Minister of the Right, but after a conflict with Fujiwara no Tokihira he was demoted to provisional governor-general of Dazaifu and died there. He was later enshrined as Tenman Tenjin and is worshipped as the god of learning.

In the first line, "tabi" puns on "kono tabi," this time, and "tabi," journey.
In the second line, "nusa" is an offering of cloth or paper for the gods, and "toriaezu" means without time to prepare it. The poem breaks here.
The third line, Mount Tamuke, is a mountain in Nara whose name contains "tamuke," making an offering, and it is an associated word with "nusa" in the second line.
The fourth line, "a brocade of autumn leaves," likens the many-colored foliage to woven brocade.
The last line, "as the gods will," breaks off with the wish that the gods accept the brocade of leaves as an offering. The next poem, 421, was composed at Mount Tamuke on the same occasion and shares the conceit of leaves and offerings.
Author: Sugawara no Michizane
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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