Yado kakou hahaso no shiba no shigure sae shitaite somuru hatsushigure kana

宿囲ふ柞の柴の時雨さへ
慕ひて染むる初時雨かな

Roma-ji: Yado kakou hahaso no shiba no shigure sae shitaite somuru hatsushigure kana
English Translation: Around my dwelling
the oak brushwood of the fence,
the rain upon it too,
longingly it dyes them all,
this first rain of winter.
Meaning: Even the rain that falls on the oak brushwood fencing my dwelling seems to come seeking it out and dyes it: such is the first rain of winter.
Commentary: Winter Poems 501

Headnote: "Winter rain at a mountain dwelling"
The topic is winter rain at a mountain dwelling. The first winter rain, which colors the mountain trees, falls even on the oak brushwood fencing the hut as if longing for it, and dyes the brushwood too. Since the winter rain was thought to turn leaves red, the poem catches its color reaching not only the mountain foliage but the brushwood fence close at hand.
Where 491 in this book told of the rain dyeing the treetops, here the dyeing hand of the rain reaches the brushwood around the hut, moving its work from distant treetops to the fence nearby.

First line, “yado kakou”: enclosing the dwelling, the brushwood serving as a fence around it.
Second line, “hahaso no shiba no”: hahaso is an old name for oak trees prized for their autumn color, and shiba is cut brushwood.
Third line, “shigure sae”: sae adds, even the rain falling on the brushwood and not only on the mountain trees.
Fourth line, “shitaite somuru”: shitau is to follow with longing, personifying the rain as seeking out the brushwood to dye it.
Fifth line, “hatsushigure kana”: hatsushigure is the first winter rain of the year, and kana is exclamatory.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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