The End of Autumn
Left
あきやまはからくれなゐになりにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけむ
akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shioshigure furitesomekemu | The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so? |
15
Right (Win)
さほやまのははそのもみぢうすけれどあきはふかくもなりにけるかな
saoyama no hahaso no momiji usukeredo aki wa fukaku mo narinikeru kana | On Sao Mountain The oak trees autumn leaves Are pale in hue, yet Most deep has autumn Become! |
Korenori
16
Left
あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは
akiyama ni koisuru shika no koe tatete naki zo shinubeki kimi ga konu yo wa | In the autumn mountains A loving stag Cries out, I could die from weeping On nights you fail to come to call… |
116[1]
Right
契りけむ心ぞつらき七夕の年にひとたびあふは逢ふかは
chigiriken kokoro zo tsuraki tanabata no toshi ni hito tabi au wa au ka wa | The vow Of a pitiless heart: The Weaver Maid, But once a year Will meet; can it be true? |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
117[2]
[1] Shokukokinshū XII: 1194/Shinsen man’yōshū 119
[2] Kokinshū IV: 178/Shinsen man’yōshū 460/Kokin rokujō I: 143
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは
akiyama ni koisuru shika no koe tatete naki zo shinubeki kimi ga konu yo wa | In the autumn mountains A loving stag Cries out, I could die from weeping On nights you fail to come to call… |
Anonymous
ひぐらしのなくあき山をこえくればことぞともなくものぞかなしき[1]
higurashi no naku aki yama o koekureba koto zo tomonaku mono zo kanashiki | The sundown cicadas Sing in the autumn mountains Passing by, Everything is somehow All the more sad… |
17
あきののとなりぞしにける草むらの見るひごとにもまさるつゆかな
aki no no to nari zo shinikeru kusamura no miru hi goto ni mo masaru tsuyu kana | The autumn fields Have all turned to Tangled clumps of grass— Every day I sight them, How finer is the dewfall! |
18
[1] This poem was included in two later anthologies: Fubokuwakashu (6015) and Shūfū wakashū 秋風和歌集 (307).
Autumn Mountains 秋山
をの山に朝たつ鹿も声たてて秋のあはれはしのばざりけり
onoyama ni asa tatsu shika mo koe tatete aki no aware wa shinobazarikeri | In Onoyama Even the stags rising in the morn Cry out; The sorrows of autumn I would not recall. |
Daishin
Autumn Mountains 秋山
紅葉ばのくれなゐふかき秋山に心をそめておもひぬるかな
momijiba no kurenai fukaki akiyama ni kokoro o somete omoinuru kana | The turning leaves’ Scarlet in the depths of The autumn mountains Has dyed my heart and Completely filled my thoughts! |
Higo
Autumn Mountains 秋山
いそぐたびうしとは人に見えつらん月待ちいづる秋の山のは
isogu tabi ushi to wa hito ni mietsuran tsuki matchi’izuru aki no yama no ha | On a hurried journey How heartless to folk Must appear, Awaiting moonrise, The mountains’ edge in autumn… |
Kanemasa
Autumn Mountains 秋山
ゆきやらで秋の山路にくれぬとも下てるみねの紅葉やはなき
yukiyarade aki no yamaji ni kurenu tomo shita teru mine no momiji ya wa naki | Not travelling far, and To this autumn mountain path Has no darkness come, yet On the shining peaks below Is there not a single scarlet leaf? |
Tadafusa
Autumn Mountains 秋山
都にてたれにかたらん紅葉するたつたの山のみねの気色を
miyako nite tare ni kataran momijisuru tatsuta no yama no mine no keshiki o | In the capital Who is there to tell? Of scarlet-turning Tatsuta Mountain’s Peak’s appearance? |
Toshiyori
Autumn Mountains 秋山
まこも色のあをばの山も秋くれば露のしづくに下紅葉せり
makomoiro no aoba no yama mo aki kureba tsuyu no shizuku ni shita momijiseri | Even to the fresh green and Verdant mountain leaves Has autumn come, then Beneath the weight of countless dewdrops Have they taken scarlet hues… |
Nakazane
'Simply moving and elegant'