Furukoromo utsutsuru hito wa akikaze no tachikuru toki ni mono mō mono zo

古衣打棄つる人は秋風の
立ちくる時に物思ふものぞ

Roma-ji: Furukoromo utsutsuru hito wa akikaze no tachikuru toki ni mono mō mono zo
English Translation: An old robe of mine
one who casts it all away
when the autumn wind
comes rising up to blow
falls to brooding, so they say
Meaning: Whoever casts away an old robe will fall to brooding when the autumn wind rises and blows.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2626

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Whoever throws away an old robe, the poem says, will be lost in brooding once the autumn wind begins to blow. Likening a long-worn robe to a long-time lover or wife, it warns that one who turns to a new partner and discards an old companion will come to regret it in loneliness.
Among the poems that speak through things, this one has a strongly metaphorical character, treating the robe itself as a person. It overlays the familiar experience of missing a discarded robe only when the cold arrives with the feelings of the one cast aside, and it continues the clothing poems of the preceding poem.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "furukoromo": "an old robe," a robe long worn, standing for a lover or wife of many years.
Second line, "utsutsuru hito wa": "the one who casts away." "Utsutsu" is a contracted form of "uchi-utsu," to throw away entirely; the particle "wa" singles out such a person as the object of the warning.
Third line, "akikaze no": "the autumn wind," the wind of the chilly season; some see in "aki" (autumn) an echo of "aki" (weariness, waning love).
Fourth line, "tachikuru toki ni": "when it comes rising up," "tatsu" describing the wind springing up, marking the time when the cold pierces one.
Fifth line, "mono mō mono zo": "one broods, it is so." "Mono omou" means to be troubled in heart, and the particle "zo" states it firmly as a general truth, giving the line the tone of a warning.
Source: Manyoshu
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