Shimogare wa wabishikarikeri akikaze no fuku ni wa ogi no otozure mo shiki - Izumi Shikibu Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

霜かれはわひしかりけり秋風の
ふくには荻の音つれもしき

Roma-ji: Shimogare wa wabishikarikeri akikaze no fuku ni wa ogi no otozure mo shiki
English Translation: In the frost-withered days
how lonely and forlorn it is;
when the autumn wind blew,
there came at least the rustling
of the reeds, and your visits too
Meaning: How dreary is this season of frost-withered grass; when the autumn wind blew, there was at least the rustle of the reeds, and your visits too.
Commentary: 35 Frost-Withered Reeds and the Storm Wind

After their exchange about doubt, the prince wrote to her constantly but seldom came. On days when the rain and wind raged, of all days, no word came from him, and Izumi Shikibu thought that he must give no thought to how the wind sounded in a house with so few people.
The woman is Izumi Shikibu, daughter of Ōe no Masamune and, as the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, mother of Koshikibu no Naishi. The Prince of the Dazaifu is Prince Atsumichi, fourth son of Emperor Reizei, so called because he served as Governor-General of the Dazaifu.
On a day of fierce wind and rain, when evening came without a word from him, Izumi Shikibu sent this poem of her own accord.
After sending it, she read the letter from the prince that had crossed hers: "What a frightful wind; I worry how you are faring," followed by "Karehatete ware yori hoka ni tou hito mo arashi no kaze o ikaga kikuran." Learning that he had indeed been thinking of her, she was glad and amused.

The opening lines mean "the frost-withered season is dreary," frost-withering being the browning of plants struck by frost, with an exclamatory auxiliary. The third line, "of the autumn wind," leads into what follows.
The lower verses mean "when it blew there was at least the rustle of the reeds," where "otozure" means both the sound of reed leaves stirring in the wind and a lover's visit, with a past-tense auxiliary. Contrasting his visits in autumn with the loneliness of the frost-withered present, she entrusts to the image of the reeds her forlornness on a day without letter or visit.
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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