時雨れゆく四方の梢の色よりも
秋は夕べの変はるなりけり
秋は夕べの変はるなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Shigureyuku yomo no kozue no iro yori mo aki wa yūbe no kawaru narikeri
- English Translation
-
More than the color
of the treetops all around
turning with each shower,
what changes in the autumn
is the evening itself
- Meaning
- More than the color of the treetops all around, turning with each cold shower, it is the evening itself that changes in autumn.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems II 355
Headnote: "Composed as an autumn poem"
Composed as an autumn poem. More than the color of the treetops all around, changing with each cold shower, the poet says, what changes in autumn is the mood of evening. Weighing the change of something unseen, the feel of evening, above the visible change of the leaves, he grasps the passing of the season with the heart.
The author, "Fujiwara no Teika," was the son of this anthology's compiler, Fujiwara no Shunzei. He later compiled the Shin Kokin Wakashū and the Shin Chokusen Wakashū, and is said to have selected the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Taking up the two poems before, which sang of showers dyeing the leaves, this poem turns to say that evening changes more than the color of the treetops.
First line, "shigureyuku": "with each cold shower," the change brought about by the showers. It shares the verb with "shigurete" in the preceding poem, 354.
Second line, "yomo no kozue no": "yomo" means all around, and "kozue" are the tips of the branches.
Third line, "iro yori mo": setting the standard of comparison, the visible color of the leaves.
Fourth line, "aki wa yūbe no": setting the unseen feel of evening against "iro," color, in the third line.
Fifth line, "kawaru narikeri": "nari" is assertive and "keri" expresses realization, "it is evening that changes."
- Author
- Fujiwara no Teika
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Murakumo no shigurete somuru momijiba wa usuku koku koso iro ni miekere
- Next Poem
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Oboroke no iro to ya hito no omouran Ogura no yama o terasu momijiba