時雨ゆゑかづく袂をよそ人は
紅葉を払ふ袖かとや見ん
紅葉を払ふ袖かとや見ん
- Roma-ji
-
Shigure yue kazuku tamoto o yosobito wa momiji o harau sode ka to ya min
- English Translation
-
The sleeve I hold up
over my head against the showers—
might those passing by
take it for a sleeve that brushes
away the falling red leaves?
- Meaning
- The sleeve I draw over my head against the cold showers—might strangers looking on take it for a sleeve brushing away falling autumn leaves?
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 222
Headnote: "For a folding screen"
The poet wonders whether someone watching from afar would take the sleeve that a traveler has drawn over his head against the showers for a sleeve brushing away falling autumn leaves. The early-winter images of showers and leaves are linked through the wit of an onlooker's mistaken view. According to the headnote, it was written for a folding screen, in response to a figure painted on it.
Taira no Kanemori, of a Taira line descended from Emperor Kōkō, was a poet of the mid-Heian period. He is known for his performance at the palace poetry contest of the fourth year of Tentoku and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "shigure yue," means "because of the cold showers."
Second line, "kazuku tamoto o," means "the sleeve drawn over one's head."
Third line, "yosobito wa," means "a stranger," one who watches from afar.
Fourth line, "momiji o harau," means "brushing away the falling leaves." Showers also scatter the leaves, so showers and leaves are mistaken for one another on a single sleeve.
Final line, "sode ka to ya min," means "would they see it as a sleeve?" with the questioning particle "ya" resolved by the attributive form of the conjectural auxiliary "n." The "tamoto" (sleeve) of the second line corresponds to this "sode" (sleeve).
- Author
- Taira no Kanemori
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Nagarekuru momijiba mireba karanishiki taki no ito mote oreru narikeri
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Ashi no ha ni kakurete sumishi tsu no kuni no koya mo arawa ni fuyu wa kinikeri