Akihatete waga mi shigure ni furinureba koto no ha sae ni utsuroinikeri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あき果ててわが身時雨にふりぬれば
言の葉さへにうつろひにけり

Roma-ji: Akihatete waga mi shigure ni furinureba koto no ha sae ni utsuroinikeri
English Translation: Autumn now over,
and I, by the winter showers,
grown old and weathered—
even the leaves of words
have faded and changed their hue
Meaning: Since I have been tired of utterly, as autumn ends, and have grown old as if worn by the showers, even your words have faded and changed like the leaves.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 450

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that since she has been tired of, as autumn ends, and has grown old amid the showers, even her lover's words have faded like the leaves. Entrusting her feelings to the turning of the season, she laments her lover's change of heart.
Like 448, it opens with "aki hatete" and uses "shigure," "furi" and "koto no ha" in the same conceit. Where 448 resigned itself not to resent the lover's words, this poem laments that the words have changed. Like 444, it also closes with "utsuroinikeri."
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, "aki" is a pivot word meaning both "autumn" and "aki," being tired of by a lover; the line is the same as the first line of 448.
The second line, "waga mi shigure ni," means "I, in the showers," the showers suggesting tears.
In the third line, "furi" is a pivot word meaning both the showers "falling" and oneself "growing old."
In the fourth line, "sae ni" means "even," and the "ha," leaf, of "koto no ha" is an associated word with the showers and with "utsurou."
In the last line, "utsurou" means to change color, expressing the lover's heart changing as leaves fade. It is the same line that closes 444 in this book.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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