秋の夜に雨と聞こえて降るものは
風にしたがふ紅葉なりけり
風にしたがふ紅葉なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no yo ni ame to kikoete furu mono wa kaze ni shitagau momiji narikeri
- English Translation
-
On an autumn night
what falls with a sound I took
to be the rain,
is but the leaves of autumn
following the wind's command.
- Meaning
- What falls on an autumn night, sounding like rain, turns out to be autumn leaves following the wind.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 208
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
What sounded like rain on an autumn night turns out to be the sound of autumn leaves falling in the wind. Catching the scattering of leaves in the dark through sound alone, the poem uses a comparison made by the ear.
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, "aki no yo ni," means "on an autumn night."
Second line, "ame to kikoete," means "sounding like rain," likening the sound of falling leaves to rain.
Third line, "furu mono wa," means "what falls."
Fourth line, "kaze ni shitagau," means "following the wind." Following the preceding poem, in which the storm wind stirred the poet's heart, this one too sings of sound in the night wind.
Final line, "momiji narikeri," means "was autumn leaves after all," with "keri" expressing the exclamation of realization.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Akiyama no arashi no koe o kiku toki wa konoha naranedo mono zo kanashiki
- Next Poem
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Kokoro mote chiran dani koso oshikarame nado ka momiji ni kaze no fukuran