Ogurayama fumoto ni aki no iro wa are ya kozue no nishiki kaze ni tatarete

小倉山麓に秋の色はあれや
梢の錦風に裁たれて

Roma-ji: Ogurayama fumoto ni aki no iro wa are ya kozue no nishiki kaze ni tatarete
English Translation: Ogura Mountain:
is autumn's color at its foot
because, as it seems,
the brocade upon its treetops
has been cut and cast by wind?
Meaning: Is autumn's color filling the foot of Mount Ogura because the brocade of its treetops has been cut by the wind and let fall?
Commentary: Autumn Poems 485

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed while in retreat at Hōrin Temple at the end of autumn"
This is another poem composed in retreat at Hōrin Temple. The foot of Mount Ogura is full of autumn color; is it because the brocade of leaves that adorned the treetops has been cut by the wind and fallen there? The leaves that fall from the treetops and color the foot of the mountain are likened to brocade cut by the wind.
Nishiki, brocade, and tatsu, to cut cloth, are linked as associated words, likening the leaves to cloth. Where the preceding poem saw autumn's depth in the color of the river, this one sees the nearness of autumn's end in the leaves that have fallen to color the mountain's foot.

First line, “Ogurayama”: Mount Ogura in Saga, west of the capital, famous for autumn leaves.
Second line, “fumoto ni aki no”: at the foot of the mountain, autumn's.
Third line, “iro wa are ya”: a hypermetric line of six syllables, is it that autumn's color is there because, the perfective are with the question particle ya; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “kozue no nishiki”: the treetop leaves likened to brocade.
Fifth line, “kaze ni tatarete”: tatsu is to cut cloth, associated with brocade, the leaves blown down by the wind seen as brocade being cut.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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