Niwakusa ni murasame furite higurashi no naku koe kikeba aki wa kinikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

庭草に村雨降りてひぐらしの
鳴く声聞けば秋は来にけり

Roma-ji: Niwakusa ni murasame furite higurashi no naku koe kikeba aki wa kinikeri
English Translation: On the garden grass
the passing showers have fallen,
and the evening cicadas,
hearing them now raise their cries,
I know autumn has come.
Meaning: A passing shower falls on the garden grass, and hearing the evening cicadas cry, I realize that autumn has come.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1110

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that when a passing shower falls on the garden grass and he hears the cries of the evening cicadas, he realizes that autumn has come. In the voices of the cicadas ringing through the garden after a sudden shower, he senses the turning of the season.
Among the miscellaneous autumn poems of Book Ten of the Man'yōshū is a similar poem whose third line is "kōrogi no," crickets, and whose final line is "akizukinikeri."
The author, written as "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, revered in later ages as the saint of poetry. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. The Shūishū includes many poems from the Man'yōshū and the Hitomaro Collection under his name.

First line, "niwakusa ni," means "on the garden grass."
Second line, "murasame furite," means "a passing shower falls."
Third line, "higurashi no," means "of the evening cicadas," echoing the final line of 1113 in this book, "higurashi mo naku," in singing of evening cicadas.
Fourth line, "naku koe kikeba," means "when I hear their cries," with "ba" attached to the perfective form meaning "when."
Final line, "aki wa kinikeri," means "autumn has come," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization. It shares "kinikeri" with the final line of the preceding poem, 1109, "kimi wa kinikeri."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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