Aki wa kinu tatsuta no yama mo miteshi kana shigurenu saki ni iro ya kawaru to - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋は来ぬ竜田の山も見てしかな
時雨れぬ先に色や変はると

Roma-ji: Aki wa kinu tatsuta no yama mo miteshi kana shigurenu saki ni iro ya kawaru to
English Translation: Autumn has arrived;
how I long to see the hills
of Tatsuta too,
before the cold showers fall,
to know if their hues have changed.
Meaning: Autumn has come. I long to see the hills of Tatsuta as well, before the cold showers fall, to find out whether their colors have begun to change.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 138

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Now that autumn has come, the poet longs to go and see whether Mount Tatsuta has already begun to color, even before the showers fall and turn its leaves. The poem expresses an early anticipation of the famous autumn foliage of Tatsuta, arising together with the arrival of the season.

First line, "aki wa kinu," means "autumn has come," with "nu" as a perfective auxiliary. The poem pauses here. It answers the final line of 140 in this book, "aki wa kinikeri," so that poems announcing autumn's arrival stand together near the opening of the book.
Second line, "tatsuta no yama mo," refers to Mount Tatsuta in Yamato, famed for its autumn leaves.
Third line, "miteshi kana," means "how I wish to see," with "teshi kana" expressing a wish. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "shigurenu saki ni," means "before the showers fall." Showers were thought to color the leaves.
Final line, "iro ya kawaru to," means "to see if the colors have changed," with the questioning particle "ya." By inversion it gives after the fact the reason the poet wishes to go and see.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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