風寒み我が唐衣打つ時ぞ
萩の下葉も色まさりける
萩の下葉も色まさりける
- Roma-ji
-
Kaze samumi waga karakoromo utsu toki zo hagi no shitaba mo iro masarikeru
- English Translation
-
As the wind grows cold,
just when I beat my Chinese robe
on the fulling block,
the lower leaves of bush clover
deepen ever in their hue.
- Meaning
- Just when I beat my robe on the fulling block because the wind has turned cold, the lower leaves of the bush clover deepen in color.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 187
Headnote: "For a folding screen in the reign of Engi"
Just when the wind turns cold and robes are beaten on the fulling block in preparation for winter, the lower leaves of the bush clover deepen in color. Overlaying the work of beating cloth with the deepening color of the leaves, the poem portrays the air of late autumn. According to the headnote, it accompanied a folding screen made in the Engi era of Emperor Daigo.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "kaze samumi," means "because the wind is cold," with "-mi" expressing cause.
Second line, "waga karakoromo," means "my robe."
Third line, "utsu toki zo," means "just when I beat it on the fulling block," with the emphatic particle "zo," which is resolved by "keru" in the final line.
Fourth line, "hagi no shitaba mo," means "the lower leaves of the bush clover too." Whereas 182 and 183 of this book sang of bush clover flowers, this poem sings of the coloring of its lower leaves, shifting the gaze from flowers to leaves.
Final line, "iro masarikeru," means "have deepened in color," closing with the attributive "keru." Following the changing leaves of the preceding poem, it sings of autumn coloring.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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