黄葉のにほひは繁ししかれども
妻梨の木を手折りかざさむ
妻梨の木を手折りかざさむ
- Roma-ji
-
Momichiba no nioi wa shigeshi shikaredomo tsumanashi no ki o taori kazasamu
- English Translation
-
Of the crimson leaves
the glowing hues are all around,
but even so,
"Wifeless" pear tree is the one
I will break to wear in my hair.
- Meaning
- The glowing colors of autumn leaves are everywhere—and yet I will break a branch of the pear tree, whose name says "no wife," to wear in my hair.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2188
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Autumn Leaves"
This poem says that though the beauty of autumn leaves is everywhere, the speaker will deliberately break a branch of the pear tree, whose name echoes "no wife," to wear in the hair. Playing on "nashi," pear, as "nashi," without, it shows wit and faint self-mockery in overlaying the speaker's wifeless state on the pear tree. The next poem, 2189, also sings of the "wifeless pear," so the two use the same pun.
The first line, "of the autumn leaves," names the foliage.
The second line, "their glowing is abundant," breaks the poem after the second line.
The third line, "shikaredomo," means and yet.
In the fourth line, "tsumanashi no ki o," "tsumanashi" plays on "tsuma nashi," no wife, and refers to the pear tree.
In the last line, "taori kazasamu," "mu" expresses intention, closing with the resolve to wear the pear branch.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Imo ga sode makiki no yama no asatsuyu ni niou momichi no chiramaku oshi mo
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Tsuyujimo no samuki yūbe no akikaze ni momichinikerashi tsumanashi no ki wa