秋の野にいかなる露の置きつめば
千々の草葉の色変はるらん
千々の草葉の色変はるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no no ni ikanaru tsuyu no okitsumeba chiji no kusaba no iro kawaruran
- English Translation
-
In the autumn fields
what manner of dew is it
that has lain so long
that the leaves of countless grasses
all have changed their colors
- Meaning
- What manner of dew has lain so long upon the autumn fields that the leaves of countless grasses have all changed their colors?
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Autumn Poems III 370
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet asks what manner of dew has lain so long on the autumn fields that the leaves of countless grasses have each changed color. It wonders at the mystery of endless varieties of color born from a single dew.
Following the preceding poem, which wondered that colorless dew could not have dyed the fields, this one asks what kind of dew must lie there for the grasses to change color.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Aki no no ni," means "on the autumn fields," answering "aki no no no," the first line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "ikanaru tsuyu no," means "what manner of dew."
The third line, "okitsumeba," means "since it has lain on and on," showing dew settling again and again.
The fourth line, "chiji no kusaba no," means "of the countless grasses."
In the last line, "ran" is an auxiliary conjecturing the cause: "why do their colors change?" It uses the same words, "iro kawaru," as the last line of the next poem, "iro kawaru kusa."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Aki no no no nishiki no goto mo miyuru kana iro naki tsuyu wa someji to omou ni
- Next Poem
-
Izure o ka wakite shinoban aki no no ni utsurowan tote iro kawaru kusa