時雨の雨間なくし降れば御笠山
木末あまねく色づきにけり
木末あまねく色づきにけり
- Roma-ji
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Shigure no ame manaku shi fureba mikasayama konure amaneku irozukinikeri
- English Translation
-
The autumn showers
since they fall without a pause,
on Mount Mikasa
all across the treetops now
the colors have come at last
- Meaning
- With the autumn showers falling without pause, the treetops of Mount Mikasa have all turned to autumn colors.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1553
Headnote: "A poem by Ōtomo no Sukune Inakimi, Senior Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards"
Because the autumn showers kept falling without pause, the treetops of Mount Mikasa have all turned color. Based on the belief that showers dye the leaves, it captures the splendid scene of a whole mountain in autumn colors. The next poem is Ōtomo no Yakamochi's reply to it.
The author, Ōtomo no Inakimi, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a younger half-brother of Ōtomo no Tabito. He served as Senior Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, among other posts.
The first line, with an extra syllable, names the autumn showers.
The second line, with the emphatic "shi," gives the reason: "since they fall without pause." 1585 of this book likewise sings of showers falling "without pause."
The third line names Mount Mikasa, a peak of Mount Kasuga in Nara.
The fourth line, "all across the treetops," shows the whole mountain turning color.
The final line, with the perfective "ni" and exclamatory "keri," expresses wonder at the coloring. Whereas Prince Ichihara's 1551 before it looked forward to colors after the showers, this poem has seen them come.
- Author
- Ōtomo no Inakimi
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Yūzukuyo kokoro mo shino ni shiratsuyu no oku kono niwa ni kōrogi naku mo
- Next Poem
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Ōkimi no mikasa no yama no momichiba wa kyō no shigure ni chiri ka suginamu