Akikaze ni hosue nami yoru karukaya no shitaba ni mushi no koe midaru nari

秋風に穂末波寄る刈萱の
下葉に虫の声乱るなり

Roma-ji: Akikaze ni hosue nami yoru karukaya no shitaba ni mushi no koe midaru nari
English Translation: In the autumn wind,
where the thatching grass ripples
in its tips like waves,
on the lower leaves the voices
of the insects mingle now.
Meaning: In the autumn wind the tips of the thatching grass ripple like waves, and among its lower leaves the voices of the insects mingle in confusion.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 446

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed poems on insects"
This is the second poem in the insect series. Blown by the autumn wind, the tips of the thatching grass ripple like waves, and among its lower leaves the voices of many insects mingle in confusion. The motion of the plumes swaying in the wind is laid over the tangled voices of the insects below.
Where the preceding poem sang of a single cricket singing for the first time, here many insect voices mingle. Like ogi no ha midaru in 285 and kokoro midaruru in 299, it sings of an autumn scene in disorder.

First line, “akikaze ni”: blown by the autumn wind.
Second line, “hosue nami yoru”: the tips of the plumes rolling like waves.
Third line, “karukaya no”: of the thatching grass, an autumn grass like pampas grass.
Fourth line, “shitaba ni mushi no”: insects among the lower leaves, paired above and below with hosue in the second line.
Fifth line, “koe midaru nari”: nari infers from sound, the voices heard mingling.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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