秋霧のたたまく惜しき山路かな
紅葉の錦織りつもりつつ
紅葉の錦織りつもりつつ
- Roma-ji
-
Akigiri no tatamaku oshiki yamaji kana momiji no nishiki oritsumoritsutsu
- English Translation
-
How I regret that
autumn mist should rise and cut
across this mountain path,
where the brocade of red leaves
is woven and piling up.
- Meaning
- How sad it would be for the autumn mist to rise, as if cutting cloth, over this mountain path, where the brocade of autumn leaves keeps being woven and piling up.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 196
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
On a mountain path where autumn leaves lie piled up like brocade woven layer upon layer, the poet finds it regrettable that autumn mist should rise and hide them, as if cutting the brocade. With "tata" meaning both mist rising and brocade being cut, the poem layers conceits likening autumn leaves to brocade.
First line, "akigiri no," refers to the mist that rises in autumn.
Second line, "tatamaku oshiki," is a pivot word in which "tata" means both the rising of mist and the cutting of brocade, with "maku" as the nominalized form of the auxiliary "mu." It is associated with "nishiki" (brocade) and "ori" (weaving) in the second half.
Third line, "yamaji kana," means "what a mountain path," with the exclamatory particle "kana." The poem pauses here, in inverted order with the second half.
Fourth line, "momiji no nishiki," likens the many-colored autumn leaves to brocade. Taking up 180 of this book, where the flowering fields were likened to Chinese brocade, here the autumn leaves become brocade. From this poem on, autumn leaves are likened to brocade again and again.
Final line, "oritsumoritsutsu," means "woven and piling up," with "tsutsu" expressing repetition and continuation. By inversion it gives after the fact the reason the rising mist is regrettable.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Momijiba o kyō wa nao min kurenu tomo ogura no yama no na ni wa sawaraji
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Mizu no aya ni momiji no kagami kasanetsutsu kawase ni nami no tatanu hi zo naki