帚木の梢やいづこおぼつかな
皆園原は紅葉しにけり
皆園原は紅葉しにけり
- Roma-ji
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Hahakigi no kozue ya izuko obotsukana mina sonohara wa momiji shinikeri
- English Translation
-
The broom tree's treetop,
where can it be, I wonder,
I cannot tell at all,
for all across Sonohara
the leaves have turned to red
- Meaning
- Where is the top of the broom tree? I cannot make it out, for all of Sonohara has turned crimson.
- Commentary
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Book Three Autumn Poems 244
The broom tree is said to be visible from afar but to vanish as one draws near, and now the poet cannot tell where its top is, for all of Sonohara has turned crimson and it cannot be picked out. Drawing on the legend, the poem conveys the splendor of the autumn colors through the conceit that the broom tree is lost among them.
The broom tree was a legendary tree said to stand at Sonohara in Shinano, a poetic place since it was sung by Sakanoue no Korenori in the Kokinshū. The final line, 'has turned to red', is the same as the final lines of poems 251 and 252 in this book.
From poem 243 through poem 253 in this book come poems on autumn leaves, from trees just beginning to turn to leaves scattering until they fill rivers and waterfalls.
First line, 'hahakigi no', is the legendary tree of Sonohara in Shinano, said to be visible from afar but to disappear as one approaches.
Second line, 'kozue ya izuko', means where is its top, with the questioning particle ya. The poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, 'obotsukana', is the stem of the adjective obotsukanashi, unclear, and the poem breaks here too.
Fourth line, 'mina sonohara wa', names Sonohara, a poetic place in Shinano where the broom tree was said to stand.
Final line, 'momiji shinikeri', means it has all turned red, closing with the perfective nu and exclamatory keri. Poems 251 and 252 in this book end with the same line.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Mozu no iru haji no tachie no usumomiji tare waga yado no mono to miruramu
- Next Poem
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Ōigawa iwanami takashi ikadashi yo kishi no momiji ni akarame na se so