Aki no no ni hana chō hana o oritsureba wabishira ni koso mushi mo nakikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋の野に花てふ花を折りつれば
わびしらにこそ虫も鳴きけれ

Roma-ji: Aki no no ni hana chō hana o oritsureba wabishira ni koso mushi mo nakikere
English Translation: Upon the autumn moor
since I broke off every flower,
each one that was there,
in such a forlorn fashion
even the insects cry.
Meaning: Since I broke off every last flower on the autumn moor, even the insects cry so forlornly.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 366

Headnote: "Rani (orchid)"
The poet says that since he broke off every flower on the autumn moor, even the insects cry forlornly. Entrusting the loneliness of a moor stripped of flowers to the voices of insects, the poem hides the name "rani" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "wabishira ni" in the fourth line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.

First line, "aki no no ni," means "on the autumn moor."
Second line, "hana chō hana o," means "every flower that is called a flower," with "chō" a contraction of "to iu."
Third line, "oritsureba," means "since I have broken them off." It is the same as the third line of 354 at the head of the book, so the poem of breaking a spring branch and the poem of breaking autumn flowers echo each other. 363 of this book is also a poem of flowers broken off.
Fourth line, "wabishira ni koso," means "forlornly," with "ra" a suffix. It hides the name "rani," emphasized by the particle "koso."
Final line, "mushi mo nakikere," means "the insects too cry," with "koso" resolved by the perfective "kere."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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