ひぐらしの山路を暗みさ夜ふけて
木の末ごとに紅葉照らせる
木の末ごとに紅葉照らせる
- Roma-ji
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Higurashi no yamaji o kurami sayo fukete ko no sue goto ni momiji teraseru
- English Translation
-
On Higurashi,
the mountain path lies so dark
the night has grown deep—
yet on every treetop
the autumn leaves shine out
- Meaning
- So dark is the mountain road of Higurashi, the Day's-End Mountain, as the night grows late—yet on every treetop the autumn leaves shine out like lamps.
- Commentary
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Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1357
Headnote: "Crossing Mount Higurashi while on a journey."
The poet says that since the path over Higurashi is so dark, the autumn leaves on every treetop shine as the night deepens. Crossing a mountain road late at night after dusk has fallen, he sings of the vivid leaves on each branch tip lighting the way like lamps.
According to the headnote, he composed this when crossing Mount Higurashi on a journey.
The poet, "the Sugawara Minister of the Right," is Sugawara no Michizane. A son of Sugawara no Koreyoshi, he rose high in the favor of Emperor Uda to become Minister of the Right, but was later demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Kono tabi wa nusa mo toriaezu Tamukeyama."
The first line, "Higurashi no," is a pivot word joining the mountain's name with "higurashi," the close of day, leading into "dark" in the second line.
The second line, "yamaji o kurami," means "since the mountain road is dark," with "o ... mi" giving the cause.
The third line, "sayo fukete," means "as the night grows deep," with "sa" a prefix.
The fourth line, "ko no sue goto ni," means "on every treetop."
The last line, "momiji teraseru," means "the autumn leaves are shining," seeing their red as lamplight. It pairs with "dark" in the second line.
- Author
- Sugawara no Michizane
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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