Hitotose ni futatabi yukanu akiyama o kokoro ni akazu sugushitsuru ka mo

一年にふたたび行かぬ秋山を
心に飽かず過ぐしつるかも

Roma-ji: Hitotose ni futatabi yukanu akiyama o kokoro ni akazu sugushitsuru ka mo
English Translation: Only once a year,
never twice, the autumn comes
to the autumn hills—
not enough within my heart
have I seen, and now it's passed!
Meaning: The autumn mountains that come but once a year—I have let them pass without gazing to my heart's content.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2218

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Autumn Leaves"
This poem regrets having let the autumn mountains' colors, which come only once a year, pass without gazing to the heart's content, and it closes the autumn leaves group. It shows both regret at the passing of the season of colored leaves and remorse at not having savored it fully. Like "he is not one who comes twice in a year" in the Tanabata poem 2077, it uses "hitotose ni futatabi" to show the preciousness of what comes but once.

The first line, "in one year," sets the span.
The second line, "not coming twice," shows the once-only nature of the autumn season.
The third line, "the autumn mountains," names the object.
The fourth line, "not to my heart's content," names the lack.
In the last line, "sugushitsuru ka mo," "tsuru" is the attributive of the completive "tsu" and "ka mo" is exclamatory, closing with regret at having let it pass.
Source: Manyoshu
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