故郷の初黄葉を手折り持ち
今日ぞ我が来し見ぬ人のため
今日ぞ我が来し見ぬ人のため
- Roma-ji
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Furusato no hatsumomichiba o taorimochi kyō zo waga koshi minu hito no tame
- English Translation
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From my old home town
the first crimson leaves of fall
breaking off, I hold,
and today it is I've come,
for the one who has not seen.
- Meaning
- I have broken off the first autumn leaves of my old home and brought them here today, for the one who has not yet seen them.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2216
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Autumn Leaves"
This poem sings of breaking off the first autumn leaves of the old home and bringing them for someone who has not yet seen them. It shows consideration for someone the speaker wishes to show beautiful leaves to. Like 1868, where ashibi was brought back from Yoshino, and 2111, where a messenger brought broken-off bush clover, it sings of a heart that picks and presents nature's beauty.
The first line, "of the old home," names the place.
The second line, "the first autumn leaves," names the year's first colored leaves.
The third line, "breaking and holding them," describes the act.
In the fourth line, "kyō zo waga koshi," "zo" is an emphatic particle answered by "shi," the attributive of the past "ki." The poem breaks here.
The last line, "for one who has not seen," gives by inversion the purpose at the end.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Sayo fukete shigure na furi so akihagi no motoha no momichi chiramaku oshi mo
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Kimi ga ie no momichiba wa hayaku chirinikeri shigure no ame ni nurenikerashi mo