しぐれの雨間なくし降れば真木の葉も
争ひかねて色づきにけり
争ひかねて色づきにけり
- Roma-ji
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Shigure no ame manaku shi fureba maki no ha mo arasoikanete irozukinikeri
- English Translation
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As the showers' rain
falls on and on without cease,
leaves of the true trees,
unable to hold out long,
even they have turned to red.
- Meaning
- Because the autumn showers fall without pause, even the leaves of the evergreen maki, unable to resist, have turned color.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2196
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Autumn Leaves"
This poem says that because the showers fall without pause, even the evergreen maki, which does not normally turn, has changed color, unable to resist. It shows the strength of the showers through the hyperbole of coloring even evergreen trees. Like "the bush clover that bloomed, unable to resist the white dew" in 2116, it uses "arasoikanete" to sing of plants unable to resist nature's power.
The first line, "the showers' rain," is hypermetric.
In the second line, "manaku shi fureba," "shi" is emphatic and "ba" an established condition: since it falls without pause.
In the third line, "maki no ha mo," "maki" is an honorific name for evergreens such as cedar and cypress; the line is hypermetric.
The fourth line, "unable to resist," is the same word as the second line of 2116.
In the last line, "irozukinikeri," "keri" expresses realization.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Karigane no koe kiku nae ni asu yori wa kasuga no yama wa momichisomenamu
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Ichishiroku shigure no ame wa furanaku ni ōki no yama wa irozukinikeri