Higurashi no koe bakari suru shiba no to wa irihi no sasu ni makasete zo miru - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ひぐらしの声ばかりする柴の戸は
入日のさすにまかせてぞ見る

Roma-ji: Higurashi no koe bakari suru shiba no to wa irihi no sasu ni makasete zo miru
English Translation: At my brushwood door
where only the evening cicada's
voice is to be heard,
I leave it as the setting sun
streams in, and sit gazing out
Meaning: At my brushwood door, where nothing is heard but the voice of the evening cicada, I leave it open to the setting sun as it streams in, and gaze.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 568

At his brushwood door, where nothing is heard but the voice of the evening cicada, the poet leaves the door unbarred and watches as the setting sun streams in. The evening in a lonely mountain dwelling where no one calls is drawn through the cicada's voice and the slanting sunlight.
Sasu joins the sun's shining in and the barring of a door, and through the conceit of letting the evening sun stream in instead of shutting the door, the poem expresses the loneliness of receiving no visitors.
The author, Akisue, is Fujiwara no Akisue. A son of Fujiwara no Takatsune, he rose to Master of the Office of Palace Repairs and founded the Rokujō Fujiwara house of poets. He was esteemed as a close retainer of Retired Emperor Shirakawa.

First line, 'higurashi no', means of the evening cicada, whose voice at dusk invites loneliness. It echoes higurashi as spending the whole day.
Second line, 'koe bakari suru', means where only its voice is heard, showing that no one else comes.
Third line, 'shiba no to wa', means the humble brushwood door, standing for a lonely mountain dwelling.
Fourth line, 'irihi no sasu ni', is a pivot in which sasu means both the sun shining in and barring a door, left in kana. It is a related word to to, door, in the third line.
Final line, 'makasete zo miru', means I leave it so and gaze, the particle zo answered by the attributive miru.
Author: Fujiwara no Akisue
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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