Kureteyuku aki o ba mizu ya sasouran momiji nagarenu yamakawa zo naki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

暮れてゆく秋をば水や誘ふらむ
紅葉流れぬ山川ぞなき

Roma-ji: Kureteyuku aki o ba mizu ya sasouran momiji nagarenu yamakawa zo naki
English Translation: The departing autumn,
is the water luring it
away, I wonder?
without autumn leaves flowing
there is no mountain stream
Meaning: Is the water luring away the departing autumn? There is no mountain stream without autumn leaves flowing down it.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems II 380

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Fallen Leaves Floating on the Water'"
Composed on the topic "Fallen Leaves Floating on the Water." Is the water luring away the departing autumn, the poet asks, for there is no mountain stream down which autumn leaves are not flowing. He sees the leaves flowing in every mountain stream as the water carrying away autumn itself as it departs.
The author, "Go-Sanjō Naidaijin," is Fujiwara no Kiminori, son of Grand Minister Fujiwara no Saneyuki, who rose to Palace Minister.
371 of this book said that the river's current lures the leaves away. This poem says the water lures away autumn itself along with the leaves, leading on into the poems on the last day of autumn.

First line, "kureteyuku": autumn drawing toward its end.
Second line, "aki o ba mizu ya": "o ba" marks the object with emphasis, and the interrogative "ya" closes with the attributive "ramu" in the third line.
Third line, "sasouran": "sasou" is to lure and carry off, and "ramu" is the present conjecture. The poem pauses here. Taking up "sasou wa mine no" of 371 of this book, it widens what is lured away from the leaves to autumn itself.
Fourth line, "momiji nagarenu": "nu" is the attributive of the negative "zu," "down which no leaves flow."
Fifth line, "yamakawa zo naki": "yamakawa" is a stream flowing through the mountains. "Zo" closes with the attributive "naki," asserting strongly that there is no stream without leaves.
Author: Fujiwara no Kiminori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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