At a time when the world was particularly fleeting, and many people had died, Middle Captain [Minamoto no] Nobukata (?-998) passed away and, at around the Tenth Month, on going to his house in Shirakawa, he saw a single autumn leaf remaining.
けふこずはみでやゝまゝし山ざとのもみぢも人もつねならぬよに
| kyô kozu wa mide ya yamamashi yamazato no momiji mo hito mo tsune naranu yo ni |
Had I not come today, I wonder, unseen, would it have reached its end? A mountain dwelling’s Scarlet leaf and a man, for both This is a fleeting world. |
Former Major Councillor Kintō (966-1041)
藤原公任