山里は外面の真葛葉を茂み
うら吹き返す秋を待つかな
うら吹き返す秋を待つかな
- Roma-ji
-
Yamazato wa sotomo no makuzu ha o shigemi ura fukikaesu aki o matsu kana
- English Translation
-
In the mountain home,
the arrowroot by the house
grows so thick in leaf,
I await the autumn wind
that will turn their backs, at heart.
- Meaning
- In my mountain home the arrowroot outside the house has grown so thick that, deep in my heart, I wait for the autumn wind that will blow its leaves over to show their pale undersides.
- Commentary
-
Summer Poems 252
Headnote: "Awaiting autumn in a mountain dwelling"
This poem was composed on the topic of awaiting autumn in a mountain dwelling. Outside the mountain house the arrowroot vines have grown thick. Arrowroot leaves were said to show their white undersides when blown by the autumn wind, and the poet waits eagerly for the autumn that will blow the leaves over.
Where the preceding poems sensed signs of autumn, this one tells of a heart waiting for autumn to come, and longing for autumn rises as the summer section draws to its close.
First line, “yamazato wa”: in the mountain village, singled out with wa.
Second line, “sotomo no makuzu”: sotomo is the outside or back of a house, and makuzu an elegant name for arrowroot.
Third line, “ha o shigemi”: o with an adjective stem and mi, because the leaves are thick.
Fourth line, “ura fukikaesu”: ura is a pivot word joining ura, the underside of the leaves, and ura, the heart; the autumn wind turning the leaves over is laid over waiting for autumn within the heart.
Fifth line, “aki o matsu kana”: the exclamatory kana closes the poem with a heart waiting for autumn.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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