Mushi naranu hito mo oto senu waga yado ni aki no nobe tote kimi wa kinikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

虫ならぬ人も音せぬ我が宿に
秋の野辺とて君は来にけり

Roma-ji: Mushi naranu hito mo oto senu waga yado ni aki no nobe tote kimi wa kinikeri
English Translation: At my lonely house,
where none but crickets make a sound,
not even people come,
taking it for autumn fields,
you have come to visit me.
Meaning: To my house, where no one but the insects ever makes a sound, you have come, taking it for the autumn fields.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1109

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that his friend has come to his house, where no one but the insects ever makes a sound, taking it for the autumn fields. Likening his overgrown dwelling to the autumn fields, he expresses with a touch of play his joy at an unexpected visit.
The author is Sone no Yoshitada, called Sotan from his post as a junior official of Tango, a poet who composed the Maigetsushū, a cycle of three hundred sixty poems for the whole year, and who was known for a fresh style that boldly took in everyday words.

First line, "mushi naranu," means "not an insect," suggesting a lonely dwelling where nothing is heard but the voices of insects.
Second line, "hito mo oto senu," means "where no person calls," with "oto su" meaning to make a sound or to visit.
Third line, "waga yado ni," means "to my house," sharing the same words with the third lines of 1111, 1113, and 1114 in this book, "waga yado no," so poems on autumn at one's own house follow one another.
Fourth line, "aki no nobe tote," means "taking it for the autumn fields."
Final line, "kimi wa kinikeri," means "you have come," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization. It shares "kinikeri" with the final line of the next poem, 1110, "aki wa kinikeri."
Author: Sone no Yoshitada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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