うづら鳴く真野の入江の浜風に
尾花波寄る秋の夕暮
尾花波寄る秋の夕暮
- Roma-ji
-
Uzura naku mano no irie no hamakaze ni obana nami yoru aki no yūgure
- English Translation
-
Where the quail are calling
at the inlet of Mano
in the shore breeze,
the plume grass rolls in like waves
in the autumn evening light
- Meaning
- In the shore wind at the inlet of Mano, where quail call, the plume grass ripples like waves in the autumn dusk.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 239
At the inlet of Mano where quail call, the plumes of grass sway like rolling waves in the shore wind: such is the scene of this autumn evening. Layering the quail's call, the sea breeze and the waves of grass, things heard and seen, the poem paints a lonely yet beautiful autumn dusk.
It is known as one of the compiler-author's finest landscape poems and was highly valued by poets of the later Shinkokinshū era. Mano also appears in poem 229 in this book.
Poems 238 and 239 in this book are poems on plume grass in flower.
The author, Toshiyori, is Minamoto no Toshiyori. A son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu, he compiled this anthology, the Kin'yōwakashū, at the command of Retired Emperor Shirakawa, and is known for his innovative style.
First line, 'uzura naku', means where quail call, a motif suggesting the loneliness of the fields.
Second line, 'mano no irie no', is the inlet of Mano in Ōmi; like 'the bush clover fields of Mano' in poem 229 in this book, it sings of Mano.
Third line, 'hamakaze ni', means in the wind off the shore.
Fourth line, 'obana nami yoru', means the plume grass rolls in like waves, likening the swaying plumes to waves. Like the plume grass of the preceding poem, 238, it sings of grass in ear.
Final line, 'aki no yūgure', ends on a noun, wrapping the whole scene in the mood of an autumn dusk.
- Author
- Minamoto no Toshiyori
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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Yuku hito o maneku ka nobe no hanasusuki koyoi mo koko ni tabine seyo to ya
- Next Poem
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Ujigawa no kawase mo mienu yūgiri ni maki no shimabito fune yobau nari