秋されば春日の山の黄葉見る
奈良の都の荒るらく惜しも
奈良の都の荒るらく惜しも
- Roma-ji
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Aki sareba kasuga no yama no momichi miru nara no miyako no aruraku oshi mo
- English Translation
-
When autumn has come,
from where we'd view Mount Kasuga's
colored autumn leaves,
the capital of Nara:
how I grieve to see it fade
- Meaning
- The capital of Nara, from which we gazed on the autumn leaves of Mount Kasuga every fall: how I grieve to see it falling into ruin.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1604
Headnote: "A poem by Ōhara no Mahito Imaki grieving over the old capital of Nara"
The poet grieves that the capital of Nara, from which people gazed on the autumn leaves of Mount Kasuga every fall, is falling into ruin. After the capital was moved to Kuni, sorrow for the deserted city of Nara is expressed alongside the memory of its beautiful autumn leaves.
The author, Ōhara no Imaki, was an official of the Nara period who bore the surname Ōhara no Mahito.
The first line means "whenever autumn comes."
The second line names Mount Kasuga, east of the capital of Nara.
The third line, "viewing the autumn leaves," recalls how the people of the capital once enjoyed them each autumn.
The fourth line names the capital of Nara, deserted after the move to the Kuni capital.
The final line means "how I grieve that it falls into ruin," closing with the exclamatory "mo." In the same form as "how I regret that they must fall" in 1517 and 1594 of this book, it widens regret for falling leaves into regret for a capital falling into ruin.
- Author
- Ōhara no Imaki
- Source
- Manyoshu
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