Aki kureba tsuki no katsura no mi ya wa naru hikari o hana to chirasu bakari o - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋来れば月のかつらのみやはなる
光を花と散らすばかりを

Roma-ji: Aki kureba tsuki no katsura no mi ya wa naru hikari o hana to chirasu bakari o
English Translation: When autumn arrives,
the katsura in the moon—
does it bear its fruit?
It only scatters its light
as though its light were flowers.
Meaning: When autumn comes, does the katsura tree in the moon bear fruit? No—it only scatters its light as if it were blossoms.
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 463

Headnote: "Katsura Palace"
This poem asks whether, when autumn comes, the katsura tree in the moon bears fruit, since it only scatters its light like flowers. The title "Katsura no miya" (Katsura Palace) is hidden in "katsura no mi ya" across the second and third lines. Drawing on the Chinese legend that a katsura tree grows in the moon, it likens the moonlight to katsura blossoms.
The poet, "Minamoto no Hodokosu," is Minamoto no Hodokosu. He appears to have been an official of the early Heian period, but the details of his career are not known.

First line "Aki kureba" means "when autumn comes."
Second line "tsuki no katsura no" means "of the katsura tree said to grow in the moon," drawing on the Chinese legend.
Third line "mi ya wa naru" uses the rhetorical "ya wa," meaning "does it bear fruit? It does not." With the second line, "katsura no mi ya" hides the title "Katsura no miya." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line "hikari o hana to" means "its light as flowers," likening the moonlight to katsura blossoms.
Fifth line "chirasu bakari o" means "though it merely scatters them," closing on a tree that bears no fruit but only scatters flowers of light.
Author: Minamoto no Hodokosu
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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