Ada ni chiru ko no ha ni tsukete omou kana kaze sasou meru tsuyu no inochi o

あだに散る木の葉につけて思ふかな
風誘ふめる露の命を

Roma-ji: Ada ni chiru ko no ha ni tsukete omou kana kaze sasou meru tsuyu no inochi o
English Translation: Leaves that idly fall,
watching them, I think of it,
my dewdrop of a life,
which the wind, it seems, is
about to lure away.
Meaning: Watching the leaves that scatter so lightly, I think of my own dewdrop life, which the wind seems about to sweep away.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 925

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When, ill with a cold, I was returning to my mountain temple, people came to see me off, saying, 'When you are better, come again soon,' and thinking of each one's kindness / There were replies too, but those I did not hear of I have not written down"
This is the second of the five. Watching the leaves that scatter so lightly, I think of my dewdrop life, which the wind seems about to sweep away, the poet says, joining kaze, wind, to his cold to express the frailty of his ailing body.

First line, “ada ni chiru”: scattering idly, fleetingly.
Second line, “ko no ha ni tsukete”: as I watch the leaves.
Third line, “omou kana”: kana is exclamatory; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “kaze sasou meru”: kaze joins wind and cold; meru marks inference, it seems to lure away.
Fifth line, “tsuyu no inochi o”: a life as fleeting as dew, inverted to follow the third line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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