湖に秋の山辺を映しては
はたばり広き錦とぞ見る
はたばり広き錦とぞ見る
- Roma-ji
-
Mizuumi ni aki no yamabe o utsushite wa hatabari hiroki nishiki to zo miru
- English Translation
-
Upon the lake's face,
where the autumn hills reflect
their colors brightly,
I see a broad brocade
woven wide from shore to shore.
- Meaning
- With the autumn hillsides reflected on the lake, I see it as a brocade of great breadth.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 203
Headnote: "When I went to worship at Chikubushima and the reflections of the autumn leaves were mirrored in the water"
The poet sees the autumn hillsides mirrored on the lake as a brocade of great breadth. Recasting the vastness of Lake Biwa as the width of a brocade, the poem grandly captures the autumn leaves reflected across the whole surface of the lake. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the reflections of the autumn leaves in the water while visiting Chikubushima on Lake Biwa to worship.
The author, written as Hokkyō Kankyō, was a monk of the mid-Heian period who held the clerical rank of Hokkyō; little is known of his life.
First line, "mizuumi ni," means "on the lake," Lake Biwa.
Second line, "aki no yamabe o," means "the autumn hillsides."
Third line, "utsushite wa," means "as it reflects them." It takes up the poems on autumn leaves flowing in and reflected on water from 194 of this book onward.
Fourth line, "hatabari hiroki," means "of a broad width of cloth," likening the breadth of the lake to the width of a brocade.
Final line, "nishiki to zo miru," means "I see it as brocade," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "miru." Whereas 196 and 197 of this book likened the leaves on a mountain path and a river to brocade and twill, this poem likens the leaves reflected on the great expanse of a lake to brocade, pairing river and lake on different scales.
- Author
- Kankyō
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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