Ada nari to ware wa minaku ni momijiba o iro no kawareru aki shi nakereba - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あだなりと我は見なくに紅葉葉を
色の変はれる秋しなければ

Roma-ji: Ada nari to ware wa minaku ni momijiba o iro no kawareru aki shi nakereba
English Translation: That they are fickle
is not how I see them,
these autumn leaves,
for there has been no autumn
when their colors were different
Meaning: I do not see the autumn leaves as fickle, for there has never been an autumn when their colors were any different.
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 390

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that since there is no autumn in which the leaves' colors differ, one need not see them as fickle. Leaves usually thought fleeting and quick to fall are seen anew as faithful, coloring the same way every year.
In accord with 385 of this book, which wished the leaves to stay unchanging, it turns its eye to the constancy of the autumn leaves.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

In the first line, "ada" means fickle, fleeting.
The second line, "ware wa minaku ni," means "though I do not see them so." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "momijiba o," means "the autumn leaves," standing in inversion with the first two lines.
The fourth line, "iro no kawareru," means "whose colors have changed," that is, colors that differ from year to year.
In the last line, "shi" is an emphatic particle: "since there is no such autumn."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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