Aki no ta no ho no ue ni okeru shiratsuyu no kenubeku mo wa wa omōyuru ka mo

秋の田の穂の上に置ける白露の
消ぬべくも我は思ほゆるかも

Roma-ji: Aki no ta no ho no ue ni okeru shiratsuyu no kenubeku mo wa wa omōyuru ka mo
English Translation: In the autumn fields
on the tops of ears of rice
the silver dew lies—
like to vanish, like that dew,
so I feel myself, alas!
Meaning: Like the white dew lying on the ears of rice in the autumn fields, I feel as though I am about to vanish away.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2246

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through the Paddy Fields"
This poem sings of a heart about to fade away with love, like white dew lying on the ears of rice in the autumn fields. It overlays the feeling of body and soul wasting away with love on white dew that so easily vanishes. Like 1908 in the spring love poems, which went on loving as frost on water grasses melts, it entrusts love to something that easily vanishes.

The first line, "of the autumn fields," is hypermetric.
The second line, "lying on the ears of rice," is also hypermetric.
The third line, "like the white dew," with the upper lines forming a preface leading into "ke," to vanish.
In the fourth line, "kenubeku mo wa wa," "ke" means to vanish and "nubeku" means about to.
In the last line, "omōyuru ka mo," "omōyu" means to feel and "ka mo" is exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
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