荻の葉に言問ふ人もなきものを
来る秋ごとにそよと答ふる
来る秋ごとにそよと答ふる
- Roma-ji
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Ogi no ha ni koto tou hito mo naki mono o kuru aki goto ni soyo to kotauru
- English Translation
-
To the reed leaves
no one comes to speak a word,
and yet nonetheless
with every autumn that comes
"soyo," they answer, "it is so"
- Meaning
- No one comes to speak to the reed leaves, and yet each time autumn comes they rustle "soyo," as if answering, "Yes, it is so."
- Commentary
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Book Three Autumn Poems 117
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed when Retired Emperor Shirakawa held a garden-plant contest at the Toba Palace"
The author is listed here as an unnumbered poet, but the Shikashu attributes the poem to Prince Atsusuke.
Though no one asks them anything, the reed leaves answer "soyo" each time autumn comes. Laying over the rustling sound soyo the reply "so it is," it is a witty poem in which the loneliness of autumn seeps through the stirring of the reeds.
The first line, "ogi no ha ni," shares its words with the reed poems up to 111 in this book, bringing the reeds into the sequence on autumn flowers.
The second line, "koto tou hito mo," means "no one to speak to them."
The third line, "naki mono o," is concessive: "though there is none."
The fourth line, "kuru aki goto ni," means "each time autumn comes," showing yearly repetition.
In the last line, "soyo to kotauru," soyo is a pivot word joining the rustle of leaves and the reply "so it is," ending in the attributive form for a lingering effect.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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