Kirigirisu naku naru nobe wa yoso naru o omowanu sode ni tsuyu no koboruru

きりぎりす鳴くなる野辺はよそなるを
思はぬ袖に露のこぼるる

Roma-ji: Kirigirisu naku naru nobe wa yoso naru o omowanu sode ni tsuyu no koboruru
English Translation: Though the moor is far
where the crickets can be heard
singing in the grass,
on my sleeves, unlooked for, still
the dewdrops fall and spill.
Meaning: The moor where the crickets sing is far away, and yet, unexpectedly, dew spills upon my sleeves.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 447

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed poems on insects"
This is the third poem in the insect series. The moor where the crickets are singing is far away, and the poet is not there, yet unexpectedly dew spills on his sleeves. That tears fall merely on hearing the distant insects is expressed as dew from the moor spilling on the sleeves.
The figure of dew on the sleeves as tears appears also in 294 and elsewhere, and in this series poems of sleeves wet at the sound of insects follow from the next poem on.

First line, “kirigirisu”: the cricket.
Second line, “naku naru nobe wa”: naru is the attributive of the auxiliary nari inferring from sound, the moor where they seem to be singing.
Third line, “yoso naru o”: yoso is a place far off and unrelated to oneself, and o is concessive, though it is far away.
Fourth line, “omowanu sode ni”: on sleeves where it was not expected, the poet's own sleeves, far from the moor.
Fifth line, “tsuyu no koboruru”: dew spills, ending in the attributive for lingering effect; the dew suggests tears.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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