神無月時雨とともに神奈備の
森の木の葉は降りにこそ降れ
森の木の葉は降りにこそ降れ
- Roma-ji
-
Kannazuki shigure to tomo ni Kannabi no mori no konoha wa furi ni koso fure
- English Translation
-
The Godless Month—
together with the showers
in the Kannabi woods
the leaves upon the trees
come falling and falling down
- Meaning
- In the tenth month, together with the showers, the leaves of the Kannabi woods come falling down and falling still.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Winter Poems 451
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that in the tenth month, together with the showers, the leaves of the Kannabi woods keep falling down. It depicts an early-winter wood where showers and falling leaves come down together.
By repeating the sound "kami" in "kannazuki" and "Kannabi," and the verb "furu," to fall, for both showers and leaves, the poem shapes its rhythm. 456 also sings of autumn leaves falling even into the night, so that the conceit of showers overlapping with falling leaves continues in this book.
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."
The first line, "Kannazuki," is another name for the tenth lunar month, and its sound "kami" is echoed by "Kannabi" in the third line.
The second line, "shigure to tomo ni," means "together with the showers."
The third line, "Kannabi no," refers to a wood or hill where the gods descend, a poetic place associated with Tatsuta and Mimuro in Yamato.
The fourth line, "mori no konoha wa," means "the leaves of the trees in the wood."
The last line, "furi ni koso fure," repeats the same verb for emphasis: "they keep on falling." The particle "koso" and the perfective form "fure" make a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Akihatete waga mi shigure ni furinureba koto no ha sae ni utsuroinikeri
- Next Poem
-
Tanomu ki mo karehatenureba kannazuki shigure ni nomi mo nururu koro kana