Ashihiki no yamashita hikaru momichiba no chiri no magai wa kyō ni mo aru kamo

あしひきの山下光る黄葉の
散りの乱ひは今日にもあるかも

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yamashita hikaru momichiba no chiri no magai wa kyō ni mo aru kamo
English Translation: At the mountain's foot
the yellow leaves are shining,
and the swirl
of their scattering,
today is the very day
Meaning: The yellow leaves that light the foot of the mountain: today is the very day of their swirling scatter.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3700

Headnote: "Eighteen poems composed while anchored at Takashiki Bay, each expressing his feelings"
The poem praises the height of autumn color at Takashiki Bay: today is the very day when the yellow leaves that light the foot of the mountain scatter in a swirl. It gathers the splendor of the swirling leaves into a single day, today. A left note reads "the above poem is by the ambassador," and with his poem placed first among the eighteen, the banquet poems begin.
The author, Abe no Tsugumaro, was the ambassador of the embassy to Silla, appointed in the eighth year of Tenpyō. On the way home from Silla, he died on Tsushima in the following, ninth year of Tenpyō.
According to the headnote, this is one of eighteen poems composed while anchored at Takashiki Bay, each expressing his feelings. Takashiki Bay lies within Asō Bay in Tsushima, thought to be present-day Takeshiki in Mitsushima, Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The first half of the sequence ranges poems by the ambassador, vice-ambassador, senior and junior secretaries, and a young woman of Tsushima, and is thought to have been composed at a banquet.

First line, "ashihiki no": a pillow word for "yama" (mountain).
Second line, "yamashita hikaru": "yamashita" is the foot of the mountain, shining with yellow leaves.
Third line, "momichiba no": the leaves colored in autumn.
Fourth line, "chiri no magai wa": "magai" means mingling until indistinguishable, the leaves scattering in a swirl.
Fifth line, "kyō ni mo aru kamo": "mo" is emphatic and "kamo" exclamatory: it is today indeed, the poem ends.
Author: Abe no Tsugumaro
Source: Manyoshu
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