今朝の朝明雁が音寒く聞きしなへ
野辺の浅茅ぞ色づきにける
野辺の浅茅ぞ色づきにける
- Roma-ji
-
Kesa no asake karigane samuku kikishi nae nobe no asaji zo irozukinikeru
- English Translation
-
At dawn this morning
the cold cry of the wild geese,
just as I heard it,
the low reeds of the fields
have taken on autumn's hue
- Meaning
- Just as I heard the cold cry of the wild geese at dawn this morning, the low reeds in the fields have taken on autumn color.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1540
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by the Emperor"
Just as he heard the cold cry of the geese at dawn this morning, the low reeds in the fields have colored as well. The chill of the geese's cry heard by the ear and the coloring of the reeds seen by the eye are caught at once, vividly conveying the deepening of autumn.
"The Emperor" in the headnote is taken to be Emperor Shōmu. The author, Emperor Shōmu, was a son of Emperor Monmu and reigned in the Nara period. A devout Buddhist, he built the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji.
The first line, with an extra syllable, means "at dawn this morning." Prince Hozumi's 1513 in this book opens with the same line on the cry of geese and surmises the coloring of Mount Kasuga.
The second line, "the geese's cry sounds cold," senses coldness in their voices.
In the third line, "nae" means "just as."
The fourth line, with "zo," stresses "the low reeds of the fields."
The final line forms a kakari-musubi, closing in "keru," the attributive of the exclamatory "keri," in answer to "zo." Abe no Mushimaro's 1578 in this book sings in almost the same conceit and final line, "is it the cold of the geese's cry? The low reeds of this field have colored."
- Author
- Emperor Shōmu
- Source
- Manyoshu
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