朝戸開けて物思ふ時に白露の
置ける秋萩見えつつもとな
置ける秋萩見えつつもとな
- Roma-ji
-
Asato akete monomou toki ni shiratsuyu no okeru akihagi mietsutsu motona
- English Translation
-
Opening my door
at dawn, as I sat lost in thought,
with the white dew laid
on the autumn bush clover,
it keeps catching my eye in vain
- Meaning
- When I open my door in the morning, lost in thought, the autumn bush clover laden with white dew keeps catching my eye, stirring my heart in vain.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1579
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems from a banquet at the house of the Minister of the Right, Tachibana"
Opening the door in the morning while lost in thought, the poet sees the autumn bush clover laden with white dew, and his heart is stirred for no reason. The beauty of the dew-soaked clover only deepens his brooding. The note says, "The above two poems are by Fumi no Imiki Umakai."
The author, Fumi no Umakai, was an official of the Fumi clan, a lineage of immigrant descent.
The first line, with an extra syllable, means "opening the morning door."
The second line means "when I am lost in thought."
The third line names the white dew lying on the clover.
The fourth line names the autumn clover on which the dew lies.
In the final line, "motona" means "in vain, without reason," expressing a heart unsettled as the clover keeps catching his eye. Yamanoue no Okura's 1526 in this book also uses this word, "motona ya koimu," for a helpless longing.
- Author
- Fumi no Umakai
- Source
- Manyoshu
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