きりぎりす鳴く夕暮の秋風に
我さへあやな物ぞ悲しき
我さへあやな物ぞ悲しき
- Roma-ji
-
Kirigirisu naku yūgure no akikaze ni ware sae ayana mono zo kanashiki
- English Translation
-
Where the crickets cry
in the evening twilight,
in the autumn wind,
even I, for no good reason,
find all things so full of grief.
- Meaning
- In the autumn wind of the evening, as the crickets cry, even I, for no reason at all, am filled with sorrow.
- Commentary
-
Autumn Poems 254
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Crickets"
When the autumn wind blows at evening as the crickets cry, the poet finds that not only the insects but he himself is filled, for no reason, with sorrow. He frankly expresses how a causeless grief wells up in the heart, drawn out by the insects and the wind.
Line 1 sets at the opening the crickets continuing from the three preceding poems.
Line 2 means "of the evening when the crickets cry." Whereas the three preceding poems sang of crickets at night, this one sings of crickets at dusk.
Line 3 means "in the autumn wind."
Line 4: sae marks addition, "not only the insects but even I," and ayana means "for no reason." The word ayana is also sung in 219.
Line 5 concludes the binding particle zo with the attributive kanashiki. Against "their voices sound sorrowful" in 249, this poem sings of the poet's own sorrow, so the sadness of the insects' voices passes over into the listener.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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Aki no yo no tsuki no miyako no kirigirisu naku wa mukashi no kage ya koishiki
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Kirigirisu yowa no koromo no usuki ue ni itaku wa shimo no okazu mo aranamu