Nani to naku mono zo kanashiki akikaze no mi ni shimu yowa no tabi no nezame wa - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なにとなく物ぞ悲しき秋風の
身にしむ夜半の旅の寝覚めは

Roma-ji: Nani to naku mono zo kanashiki akikaze no mi ni shimu yowa no tabi no nezame wa
English Translation: For no reason at all,
how sad everything seems,
when the autumn wind
pierces me in the dead of night
as I wake upon my journey
Meaning: For no reason at all, everything seems so sad when I wake in the dead of night on a journey, with the autumn wind piercing me through.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1168

Headnote: "Composed on the feelings of travel, placing the five syllables na-mo-a-mi-da at the head of the lines"
This is an acrostic on the feelings of travel, with the five syllables "na-mo-a-mi-da" placed at the head of each line. For no reason everything seems sad when I wake on a journey in the night, with the autumn wind piercing me, he says. Read down the first syllables of the lines and one finds "na," "mo," "a," "mi," "da," the sacred name "Namu Amida." While singing of the loneliness of a night on the road, he hides the nembutsu at the heads of the lines, so that the forlorn heart of the traveler reaches toward the Buddha.
The author, "Ninjō Hōshi," was a monk of the late Heian period, but the details of his life are not known.
It follows the acrostic of the preceding poem, 1167, and both treat the feelings of travel. Where the preceding poem hid the name of a place in the palace and sang of a cheerful journey, this poem hides the Buddha's name and sings of the loneliness of a night on the road, the two forming a pair of brightness and loneliness.

First line, "nani to naku": "for no particular reason." It carries the acrostic syllable "na."
Second line, "mono zo kanashiki": "zo" is an emphatic binding particle closing with "kanashiki," the attributive of the adjective "kanashi." The poem pauses here, and the third to fifth lines, in inverted order, tell when this is. It carries the acrostic syllable "mo."
Third line, "akikaze no": "the autumn wind," subject of "mi ni shimu" in the fourth line. It carries the acrostic syllable "a."
Fourth line, "mi ni shimu yowa no": "mi ni shimu" means piercing to the body, and "yowa" the dead of night. It carries the acrostic syllable "mi."
Fifth line, "tabi no nezame wa": "when I wake in the night on a journey," which by inversion returns to "mono zo kanashiki" in the second line. It carries the acrostic syllable "da." Like the preceding poem, 1167, it treats the feelings of travel and closes the pair of acrostics.
Author: Ninjō
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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