Uzura naku ori ni shi nareba kiri komete aware sabishiki Fukakusa no sato

鶉鳴く折にしなれば霧こめて
あはれさびしき深草の里

Roma-ji: Uzura naku ori ni shi nareba kiri komete aware sabishiki Fukakusa no sato
English Translation: Now the season's come
when the quails cry in the fields,
mist enfolds it all,
and how lonely, how forlorn,
lies the hamlet of Fukakusa.
Meaning: Now that the season has come when the quails cry, the mist hangs everywhere, and the village of Fukakusa lies so lonely and forlorn.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 425

Headnote: "Mist"
This poem was composed on the topic of mist. Now that autumn has come, when the quails cry, mist hangs over everything and the village of Fukakusa is deeply lonely. Through the cry of the quails and the enveloping mist, the poem paints the loneliness of Fukakusa.
The pairing of Fukakusa and quails is known from the Tales of Ise, in which a woman of Fukakusa says that if the place becomes a wild field she will become a quail and cry there; thereafter it was sung as an emblem of a desolate, lonely village. This poem draws on that tradition, adding mist to deepen the loneliness.

First line, “uzura naku”: the quails crying, the quail as a lonely figure of the autumn fields.
Second line, “ori ni shi nareba”: shi is emphatic, since that season has come.
Third line, “kiri komete”: the mist hanging over all.
Fourth line, “aware sabishiki”: deeply lonely.
Fifth line, “Fukakusa no sato”: ending on a noun, the village of Fukakusa in Yamashiro, a famous place.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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