Asa madaki arashi no yama no samukereba momiji no nishiki kinu hito zo naki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

朝まだきあらしの山の寒ければ
紅葉の錦着ぬ人ぞなき

Roma-ji: Asa madaki arashi no yama no samukereba momiji no nishiki kinu hito zo naki
English Translation: Early in the morn,
since the storm on Arashi
blows so very cold,
there is no one passing by
not clad in brocade of leaves.
Meaning: Early in the morning the storm on Mount Arashi blows so cold that there is no one who is not clothed in the brocade of falling autumn leaves.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 210

Headnote: "When I passed by the foot of Mount Arashi and the autumn leaves were scattering heavily"
Passing the foot of Mount Arashi early in the morning, the poet finds the storm wind blowing cold and the leaves falling thickly, so that every traveler seems clothed in a brocade of autumn leaves. With "arashi" meaning both Mount Arashi and a storm wind, it is a splendid poem likening the falling leaves to a brocade robe. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the autumn leaves scattering heavily while passing the foot of Mount Arashi. In the Ōkagami it is recorded as a poem from an excursion on the Ōi River, with the first line given as "Ogurayama."
The author, called Kintō, Commander of the Right Gate Guards, is Fujiwara no Kintō. A son of the Chancellor Fujiwara no Yoritada, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor. He compiled the Wakan Rōeishū, is regarded as the compiler of the Shūishō, and is counted among the Later Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "asa madaki," means "early in the morning, before full daylight."
Second line, "arashi no yama no," is a pivot word in which "arashi" means both Mount Arashi in Yamashiro and a raging storm. Following 205 and 207 of this book, the storm wind is sung of again.
Third line, "samukereba," means "since it is cold," with "ba" marking an established condition.
Fourth line, "momiji no nishiki," likens the falling autumn leaves to brocade. It is the same phrase as in 196 of this book; the leaves that there lay as brocade piled on a mountain path here become a brocade robe worn by people.
Final line, "kinu hito zo naki," means "there is no one not wearing it," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "naki." The double negative stresses that everyone is clad in the brocade of autumn leaves.
Author: Fujiwara no Kintō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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