秋山の黄葉あはれとうらぶれて
入りにし妹は待てど来まさず
入りにし妹は待てど来まさず
- Roma-ji
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Akiyama no momichi aware to uraburete irinishi imo wa matedo kimasazu
- English Translation
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In autumn hills
the yellow leaves so moving,
forlorn and heartsick
my love went in among them—
I wait, yet she does not come
- Meaning
- Moved by the yellow leaves of the autumn hills, my wife went in among them, forlorn and heartsick—and though I wait, she does not come back.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Elegies 1409
Headnote: none (Elegies section)
Drawn by the yellow leaves of the autumn hills, the poet's wife went forlornly into the hills, and though he waits she does not return. Her death is expressed as going into the hills, drawn by the beauty of the leaves, and he grieves as he still waits for the wife who will not come back.
It is the sixth poem in the elegy section. The expression of the dead as having gone into the hills echoes the preceding two poems' image of dwelling in a hut on the hills of Hatsuse. The poet is unknown.
The first line, "In autumn hills," sets the scene.
The second line, "the yellow leaves so moving," means thinking the leaves deeply affecting.
The third line, "forlorn and heartsick," means with a drooping heart.
The fourth line, "my love went in among them," speaks of death indirectly.
In the final line, "I wait, yet she does not come," "masu" is an honorific auxiliary.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Tawakoto ka oyozuregoto ka komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni iori seri to iu
- Next Poem
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Yo no naka wa makoto futayo wa yukazarashi suginishi imo ni awanaku omoeba