classic waka stream

紅葉寄る網代の布の色染めて
ひをくくりとは見えぬなりけり
Roma-ji

Momiji yoru ajiro no nuno no iro somete hio kukuri to wa mienu narikeri

English Translation
Where red leaves drift in,
the weir like a length of cloth
is dyed with their hue,
and no longer seems a trap
to bind the icefish in its mesh.
Meaning
Where the autumn leaves drift up against it, the fish weir is dyed like a length of cloth, and no longer looks like a trap for catching icefish.
Commentary
Winter Poems 504

Headnote: "Fallen leaves caught in a fish weir"
The topic is fallen leaves caught in a fish weir. Autumn leaves drift down the river and catch in the weir, which then looks like a length of dyed cloth and no longer seems a trap for icefish. The weir is likened to dyed fabric, and hio kukuri in the fourth line is understood to join the sense of catching icefish with that of tie-dyeing in scarlet.
Where 497 in this book saw the stream carrying fallen leaves as water washing out crimson dye, this poem sees the leaves caught in the weir as dye coloring it, and both liken leaves in the water to dyed cloth.

First line, “momiji yoru”: autumn leaves drifting in.
Second line, “ajiro no nuno no”: an ajiro is a weir of woven bamboo or wood set in the shallows to catch icefish; here it is likened to cloth.
Third line, “iro somete”: dyeing it with color, the leaves dyeing the cloth of the weir.
Fourth line, “hio kukuri to wa”: hio kukuri is understood as a pivot word, catching icefish in the weir and tie-dyeing in scarlet.
Fifth line, “mienu narikeri”: nu is negative and narikeri assertive and exclamatory, it does not look so.
Author
Saigyō
Source
Sankashu
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