Asa goto ni koe o todomuru kaze no oto wa yo o hete kakaru hito no kokoro ka

朝ごとに声をとどむる風の音は
夜を経てかかる人の心か

Roma-ji: Asa goto ni koe o todomuru kaze no oto wa yo o hete kakaru hito no kokoro ka
English Translation: With every morning
falling still and silent more,
the sound of the wind,
is it, as the nights go by,
just like the heart of my love?
Meaning: The wind that falls more silent with each morning, is it like your heart, which grows this way as the nights go by?
Commentary: Love Poems 606

Headnote: "Love expressed through fallen leaves"
The topic is love expressed through fallen leaves. Each night the wind strips the trees, and each morning there are fewer leaves for it to rustle, until its sound falls silent. The poet is taken to ask whether this is like the heart of the beloved, whose visits and letters dwindle night after night. A love grown cold is entrusted to the scene of early winter, as the leaves fall away and all grows still.

First line, “asa goto ni”: each time morning comes.
Second line, “koe o todomuru”: ceasing its voice, the wind falling silent as the leaves are gone.
Third line, “kaze no oto wa”: the sound of the wind that strips the leaves, hinting at the fallen leaves of the topic.
Fourth line, “yo o hete kakaru”: taken to mean becoming like this as the nights go by.
Fifth line, “hito no kokoro ka”: ka is a question: is it the beloved's heart? closing with the question.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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