朝露を日たけて見れば跡もなし
萩の末葉にものや問はまし
萩の末葉にものや問はまし
- Roma-ji
-
Asatsuyu o hi takete mireba ato mo nashi hagi no uraba ni mono ya towamashi
- English Translation
-
The morning dewdrops,
when I look with the sun high,
have left not a trace;
shall I ask the tips of leaves
on the bush clover where they went?
- Meaning
- When I look at the morning dew with the sun already high, not a trace remains. Shall I ask the leaf tips of the bush clover where it went?
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1186
Headnote: "Composed when I broke off bush clover because its dew looked like jewels, but there was no dew at all"
He composed this when, the dew on the bush clover looking like jewels, he broke off a branch, only to find the dew completely gone. The morning dew, seen with the sun high, has left no trace; shall I ask the leaf tips of the bush clover? he says. He turns his disappointment at the dew, jewel-like and now vanished, into a jest, wondering whether to ask the leaves where it went.
The author, "Fujiwara no Tameyori Ason," was a son of Fujiwara no Masatada and an uncle of Murasaki Shikibu.
It is the seventh of the humorous poems, treating the dew on the autumn bush clover.
First line, "asatsuyu o": "the morning dew." It is the same phrase as "asatsuyu o" in the third line of the next poem, 1187; this poem sings of dew that has vanished, the next of dew that looks like jewels, the two forming a pair.
Second line, "hi takete mireba": "hi taku" means the sun climbs high.
Third line, "ato mo nashi": "not a trace," and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "hagi no uraba ni": "uraba" are the leaves at the tips of the branches.
Fifth line, "mono ya towamashi": "mashi" is an auxiliary of hesitation, and with "ya" means "shall I ask?"
- Author
- Fujiwara no Tameyori
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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Aki kureba aki no keshiki mo miekeru wa toki naranu mi to nani ni iuran
- Next Poem
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Tsubana oishi ono no shibafu no asatsuyu o nukichirashikeru tama ka to zo miru