Kagamiyama akete kitsureba akigiri no kesa ya tatsuran aumi chō na wa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

鏡山あけて来つれば秋霧の
けさやたつらんあふみてふ名は

Roma-ji: Kagamiyama akete kitsureba akigiri no kesa ya tatsuran aumi chō na wa
English Translation: Mirror Mountain—
I came home after dawn broke,
so like autumn mist,
has it risen up this morning,
that name of "Ōmi," of our meeting
Meaning: Because I came home after dawn had opened like a mirror on Mirror Mountain, has the rumor of "Ōmi"—that we met—risen like the autumn mist this morning?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 843

Headnote: "He had been meeting in deep secrecy a woman called Ōmi at a certain place, and when he went home after dawn, people saw him and whispered, so he sent this to the woman."
The poet asks whether, because he came home after daybreak, the name of "Ōmi" has risen like the autumn mist this morning. Through the place name Ōmi and the autumn mist, he tells of how their secret meeting was discovered when he was seen returning at dawn.
According to the headnote, he had been intimate in secret with a lady-in-waiting named Ōmi at a certain place, but people saw him leave after daybreak and whispered about it, so he sent the poem to her. It is the fourth in the sequence singing of autumn images.
The poet, listed as "Sakanoue Tsunekage," was Sakanoue no Tsunekage. Details of his career are not known.

The first line, "Kagamiyama," names Mirror Mountain, a poetic place in Ōmi, setting a place connected with the woman's name.
The second line, "akete kitsureba," means "since I came after dawn," with "ake" meaning both the night "breaking" and "opening" a mirror box.
The third line, "akigiri no," means "like the autumn mist," leading into "tatsu" in the fourth line, since mist rises.
The fourth line, "kesa ya tatsuran," means "has it risen this morning," with "tatsu" meaning both mist "rising" and rumor "spreading." "Ya" is an interrogative binding particle closed by the attributive "ran."
The last line, "aumi chō na wa," means "the name of Ōmi," with "aumi" joining the woman's name "Ōmi" and "au mi," one who meets. It is inverted with the fourth line. 858, 859, and 875 in this book also let "aumi" carry "au mi."
Author: Sakanoue no Tsunekage
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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