Kamo no iru irie no ashi wa shimogarete onore nomi koso aoba narikere - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

鴨の居る入り江の葦は霜枯れて
おのれのみこそあをばなりけれ

Roma-ji: Kamo no iru irie no ashi wa shimogarete onore nomi koso aoba narikere
English Translation: At the inlet where
the wild ducks gather, the reeds
are withered by frost:
now it is the ducks alone
who keep their leaves of green
Meaning: The reeds of the inlet where the ducks gather have withered in the frost; now the ducks alone wear green.
Commentary: Book Six Winter Poems 435

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on waterfowl"
Composed as a poem on waterfowl. The reeds of the inlet where the ducks gather have withered in the frost, the poet says, and now the ducks alone are green, their blue-green feathers like green leaves. It is a poem that delights in contrasting colors: in a winter inlet where the reed leaves have lost their color, only the ducks' green feathers remain like green leaves.
The author, "Dōin Hōshi," is Fujiwara no Atsuyori, son of Fujiwara no Kiyotaka, who took holy orders late in life. He was known for his deep devotion to poetry, and a poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The nine poems from 429 to 437 are poems on waterfowl. Mandarin ducks, wild ducks and other waterfowl were counted among the sights of the winter waterside. This poem and the next, 436, are poems on waterfowl placed under the same headnote.

First line, "kamo no iru": "iru" means to be there, to stay.
Second line, "irie no ashi wa": "the reeds growing in the inlet." It sings of the same inlet, reeds and ducks as "irie o meguru ashigamo" in 433, two poems earlier.
Third line, "shimogarete": "withered by frost," the reeds that have lost their color.
Fourth line, "onore nomi koso": "onore" refers to the ducks themselves, and the emphatic "koso" closes with "kere" in the perfective form in the last line.
Fifth line, "aoba narikere": "aoba" is a pivot word joining "aoba," the ducks' green feathers, and "aoba," green leaves. "Kere" is the perfective form of the exclamatory "keri."
Author: Dōin
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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