忘るなよ別れ路に生ふる葛の葉の
秋風吹かば今帰り来む
秋風吹かば今帰り来む
- Roma-ji
-
Wasuru na yo wakareji ni ouru kuzu no ha no akikaze fukaba ima kaerikomu
- English Translation
-
Do not forget me:
like the arrowroot leaves
that grow on parting's road,
when the autumn wind blows
I will soon come home again.
- Meaning
- Do not forget me. Like the arrowroot leaves growing along the road of parting that turn over in the wind, when the autumn wind blows, I will soon come back.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Parting Poems 306
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Calling out "do not forget me," the poet promises that, as the arrowroot leaves growing by the road of parting turn over in the autumn wind, he will come back as soon as the autumn wind blows. It is a poem in which the one departing vows a reunion to the one left behind, laying "returning" onto the image of the leaves turning back.
First line, "wasuru na yo," means "do not forget," with "na" a prohibitive particle and "yo" a call to the listener. The poem pauses here.
Second line, "wakareji ni ouru," means "growing on the road of parting," and has eight syllables, one more than the norm.
Third line, "kuzu no ha no," means "of the arrowroot leaves." Because arrowroot leaves show their white undersides in the wind, it leads to "kaeri" (returning) in the final line. After the summer robe of the preceding poem, the season here moves to autumn.
Fourth line, "akikaze fukaba," means "if the autumn wind blows," the irrealis form with "ba" expressing a supposition. 308, two poems later in this book, also sings of parting in autumn.
Final line, "ima kaerikomu," means "I will soon come back," with "ima" meaning "soon" and "mu" an auxiliary of intention. It echoes the "returning" of the geese in 304 near the head of the book, in the shared heart that promises a return.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Natsugoromo tachiwakaru beki koyoi koso hitoe ni oshiki omoi soinure
- Next Poem
-
Wakare chō koto wa tare ka wa hajimeken kurushiki mono to shirazu ya ariken