散りぬべき山の紅葉を秋霧の
やすくも見せず立ち隠すらん
やすくも見せず立ち隠すらん
- Roma-ji
-
Chirinubeki yama no momiji o akigiri no yasuku mo misezu tachikakusuran
- English Translation
-
The red leaves on hills
that before long must surely fall,
why then does the mist
of autumn not let me see,
but rise up and hide them so?
- Meaning
- The autumn leaves on the hills will soon scatter, so why does the autumn mist rise and hide them instead of letting me see them freely?
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 206
Headnote: "For a folding screen of the Empress in the reign of Engi"
The leaves on the hills will soon scatter, and the poet wants to see them while he can, yet he resents the autumn mist for rising and hiding them instead of letting them be seen. The heart that regrets the brief season of autumn leaves is expressed as a question put to the mist. According to the headnote, it accompanied a folding screen at the Empress's residence 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, "chirinubeki," means "that will surely scatter," with "nubeshi" expressing strong conjecture.
Second line, "yama no momiji o," means "the autumn leaves on the hills."
Third line, "akigiri no," refers to the autumn mist. It is the same as the first line of 196 of this book, and the mist that hides the leaves is sung of again.
Fourth line, "yasuku mo misezu," means "without readily letting them be seen."
Final line, "tachikakusuran," means "why does it rise and hide them," with "ran" as an auxiliary of conjecture about cause. It shares its final line with 193 of this book, so poems resenting mist that hides the leaves answer each other.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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