Momichi suru toki ni narurashi tsukihito no katsura no eda no irozuku mireba

黄葉する時になるらし月人の
桂の枝の色づく見れば

Roma-ji: Momichi suru toki ni narurashi tsukihito no katsura no eda no irozuku mireba
English Translation: Time for leaves to turn
has arrived, so it would seem,
for the moon-man's own
branches of the katsura
I can see are changing hue.
Meaning: It seems the time for autumn leaves has come, for I see the branches of the moon-man's katsura tree turning color.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2202

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Autumn Leaves"
Seeing the branches of the katsura tree said to grow in the moon turning color, this poem infers that the season of autumn leaves has come. Drawing on the Chinese legend of a katsura tree in the moon, it wittily and fancifully likens the moon's reddish glow to the katsura's autumn color. Like the "young man of the moon" in the Tanabata poems, it personifies the moon.

The first line, "turning color," names the season's work.
In the second line, "toki ni narurashi," "rashi" marks grounded inference, and the poem breaks here.
The third line, "tsukihito no," personifies the moon: of the moon-man.
The fourth line, "the branches of the katsura," names the tree said to grow in the moon.
In the last line, "irozuku mireba," "ba" is an established condition; by inversion it gives the grounds for inference at the end.
Source: Manyoshu
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