Shitamomiji katsu wa utsurou hahasohara kannazuki tote shigure furetee

下紅葉かつはうつろふ柞原
神無月とて時雨降れてへ

Roma-ji: Shitamomiji katsu wa utsurou hahasohara kannazuki tote shigure furetee
English Translation: The lower leaves
have begun already to fade
on the oak-tree plain:
"It is the godless month," they say,
"so let the showers fall."
Meaning: On the plain of oaks, the lower leaves have already begun to fade; it is as if they were saying, "It is the tenth month—let the showers fall."
Commentary: Winter Poems 322

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "From among poems on early winter"
Seeing the lower leaves on the oak plain already fading and falling, the poet sings as if they were saying, "It is the tenth month, so let the showers fall." The tee of line 5 seems to be a contraction of to ie, "say," and the poem is not easy to read.
According to the source's note, the original manuscript and the Teika text give line 4 as kannazuki shite, and the Ruijū and Teika texts give line 5 as shigure furerite e. This edition follows the source text.

Line 1, shitamomiji, is the coloring of the lower leaves of a tree.
Line 2: katsu wa means "on the one hand," saying that the lower leaves are already fading.
Line 3 is a plain where hahaso, oaks of various kinds, grow, and the poem pauses here.
Line 4 means "because it is the tenth month." This is the fourth poem in a row since 319 to sing the tenth month.
Line 5: tee seems a contraction of to ie, giving "they say, let the showers fall."
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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