秋来ぬと風も告げてし山里に
なほほのめかす花すすきかな
なほほのめかす花すすきかな
- Roma-ji
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Aki kinu to kaze mo tsugeteshi yamazato ni nao honomekasu hanasusuki kana
- English Translation
-
To the mountain village
where even the wind has told
"Autumn has come,"
still more it hints and beckons,
the pampas grass in flower
- Meaning
- To this mountain village, where even the wind has already announced that autumn has come, the flowering pampas grass still gently hints at it.
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems I 245
Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Grasses and Flowers Announce Autumn'"
Composed on the topic "Grasses and Flowers Announce Autumn." In this mountain village the wind has already announced that autumn has come, yet the flowering pampas grass, swaying its plumes, hints at it once more. Adding the pampas grass, a sign of autumn seen with the eyes, to the wind, a sign heard with the ears, the poem captures autumn deepening in the mountain village.
The author, "Hōin Jōken," is Jōken, son of Minor Counselor Fujiwara no Michinori (Shinzei), a Tendai monk who rose to the rank of Hōin. He served as a close attendant of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
Like 226 and 227 at the head of this book, it opens with "aki kinu to," and the autumn that wind and dew announced at the book's beginning is here announced again by grasses and flowers.
First line, "aki kinu to": "that autumn has come," the same opening as 226 and 227 at the head of this book.
Second line, "kaze mo tsugeteshi": "te" is the continuative of the perfective "tsu" and "shi" the attributive past: "the wind too has already told." The "mo" means the wind as well as the pampas grass.
Third line, "yamazato ni": the place where the tidings of autumn are layered.
Fourth line, "nao honomekasu": "honomekasu" means to hint, as the pampas grass, after the wind, again announces autumn.
Fifth line, "hanasusuki kana": "hanasusuki" is pampas grass in plume, and "kana" is exclamatory. Here the "grasses and flowers" of the headnote's topic appear.
- Author
- Jōken
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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