Mi ni mo shimi mono aware naru keshiki sae aware o semuru kaze no oto kana

身にもしみ物あはれなるけしきさへ
あはれを責むる風の音かな

Roma-ji: Mi ni mo shimi mono aware naru keshiki sae aware o semuru kaze no oto kana
English Translation: Piercing to the bone,
a scene so full of sorrow,
and upon it too,
pressing sorrow ever harder,
the sound of the blowing wind.
Meaning: As if the scene itself, piercing me and full of sorrow, were not enough, there comes the sound of the wind, pressing the sorrow harder still.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1088

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The scene alone, piercing and full of sorrow, would be enough, the poet says, yet the sound of the wind comes as though to press that sorrow further.
Aware is repeated, showing how sorrow deepens to its height as scene and wind are layered. This layering of what is seen and what is heard echoes 1042 at the head of this book, where the garden scene and the autumn wind sank into the poet.

First line, “mi ni mo shimi”: sinking into the body.
Second line, “mono aware naru”: somehow sorrowful.
Third line, “keshiki sae”: sae adds, "even the scene."
Fourth line, “aware o semuru”: pressing upon the feeling of sorrow; the repeated aware heightens it.
Fifth line, “kaze no oto kana”: kana is exclamatory.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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