思ひ出でて訪ふにはあらずあき果つる
色の限りを見するなりけり
色の限りを見するなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Omoiidete tou ni wa arazu aki hatsuru iro no kagiri o misuru narikeri
- English Translation
-
Not because you thought
of me, have you sent these;
the autumn ends,
and you show me now, I see,
the last of its fading hues.
- Meaning
- You have not sent these because you thought of me; you are showing me, I see, the final color of an autumn, of a weariness, that has run its course.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1269
Headnote: "When Prince Motoyoshi sent autumn leaves to a woman he had long stopped visiting"
The poet says that the beloved did not send word out of remembering her, but is showing her the last color of an autumn come to its end. The headnote shows that when Prince Motoyoshi sent autumn leaves to a woman he had long stopped visiting, she composed this. Pivoting on "aki," autumn and weariness, she reads in the fully colored leaves at autumn's end the furthest reach of the prince's weariness of her, and answers with irony. Prince Motoyoshi was a son of Emperor Yōzei, known as a great lover, and the author of the poem "wabinureba" in the Hyakunin Isshu.
First line, "omoiidete," means "remembering me."
Second line, "tou ni wa arazu," means "it is not that you write to me," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "aki hatsuru," is a pivot word: "aki" means the season "autumn" and "weariness" of heart. It layers autumn coming to its end with weariness that is complete.
Fourth line, "iro no kagiri o," means "the utmost of color," layering the last color of the leaves with the furthest point reached by a wearied heart.
Final line, "misuru narikeri," means "you are showing me, I see," with "nari" assertive and "keri" a sigh of realization.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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