Oshimedomo kane no oto sae kawaru kana shimo ni ya tsuyu o musubikauran

惜しめども鐘の音さへ変はるかな
霜にや露を結びかふらん

Roma-ji: Oshimedomo kane no oto sae kawaru kana shimo ni ya tsuyu o musubikauran
English Translation: Though I grieve its loss,
even the sound of the bell
has changed in its tone:
is it turning dew to frost,
knotting it anew tonight?
Meaning: However I grieve for autumn's passing, even the sound of the temple bell has changed; could it be that the dew is being bound anew into frost?
Commentary: Autumn Poems 490

Headnote: "Grieving all night for the passing of autumn"
The headnote tells us this was composed while grieving all night long for the departing autumn. Though the poet has grieved through the night, even the sound of the bell heard at dawn has changed to a tone no longer of autumn but of winter; could the autumn dew on the grasses be bound anew into the frost of winter? The moment of the turn from autumn to winter is caught in the change of the bell's sound and the change of dew into frost.
This is the last poem of the book. Where 254 at its head knew the coming of autumn by the feel of the wind in the treetops, this poem at its end knows autumn's departure by the change in the bell's tone and the hint of dew turning to frost, so the head and the end of the book answer each other in sensing the boundary of the season through changes that cannot be seen.

First line, “oshimedomo”: though I grieve for the departing autumn, taking up the headnote's grieving all night.
Second line, “kane no oto sae”: sae adds, even the sound of the bell besides other things.
Third line, “kawaru kana”: how it has changed, with kana exclamatory; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “shimo ni ya tsuyu o”: ya is a question particle answering ran in the last line, the dew into frost.
Fifth line, “musubikauran”: musubu is for dew or frost to form and kau to exchange, can the dew be bound anew as frost, a conjecture that marks the shift from autumn to winter and closes the book.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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