かくばかり紅葉づる色の濃ければや
錦たつたの山といふらん
錦たつたの山といふらん
- Roma-ji
-
Kaku bakari momizuru iro no kokereba ya nishiki Tatsuta no yama to iuran
- English Translation
-
Is it because
the hue of its autumn leaves
runs so deep as this
that they call it Tatsuta,
where brocade is cut to wear
- Meaning
- Is it because the color of its autumn leaves runs so deep that they call it Tatsuta, the mountain where brocade is cut?
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Autumn Poems III 382
Headnote: "On crossing Mount Tatsuta."
The poet wonders whether it is because its autumn colors run so deep that the mountain is called Tatsuta, a name that suggests the cutting of brocade. Laying "tatsu," to cut brocade, over the name "Tatsuta," it finds the origin of the name in the depth of the colors.
According to the headnote, it was composed while crossing Mount Tatsuta. Where the earlier poems on Tatsuta's leaves imagined the mountain from afar, this one sees the colors firsthand while crossing it.
The poet, called "Tomonori," is Ki no Tomonori. A son of Ki no Aritomo and a cousin of Ki no Tsurayuki, he was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū but died before it was completed. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and his "hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The first line, "Kaku bakari," means "this much."
In the second line, "momizu" means to turn color: "the color of the turning leaves."
In the third line, "ya" is an interrogative particle: "is it because they are so deep?"
In the fourth line, "tatsu" is a pivot word meaning both "to cut" brocade and the place name "Tatsuta."
In the last line, "ran" is an auxiliary conjecturing the cause, forming a kakarimusubi pattern with "ya" in the third line: "is that why they call it so?"
- Author
- Ki no Tomonori
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Osoku toku irozuku yama no momijiba wa okure sakidatsu tsuyu ya okuran
- Next Poem
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Karakoromo Tatsuta no yama no momijiba wa mono omou hito no tamoto narikeri