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= Gosen wakashu Volume 7: Autumn 3 後撰和歌集巻第七　秋下 =

== 351 ==

題知らず

Topic unknown

よみ人も

The poet as well

ふぢ袴きる人なみや立ちながらしぐれの雨にぬらしそめつる

 hudibakama　　　　　　　　　''Fujibakama''
 kiru hito nami ya        Perhaps since no one wears it
 tati-nagara              It stands sewn, ready
 sigure no ame ni         In the rains of late autumn
 nurasi-some-turu         Starting to get drenched and stained.

;Fujibakama
:''Eupatorium japonicum.'' The origin of this flower's name is not certain, but the ''hakama'' suggests the word for trousers, thus furnishing the wordplay in many poems dealing with it.

;Stands sewn
:Play on ''tatu'' (standing, and cut cloth)

;Drenched and stained
:Play on ''some'' (beginning to, and dyeing something). The ''dyeing'' also suggests the autumn leaves.

--

''Fujibakama'' occur in three KKS autumn poems and just this one GSS poem; the image does not reoccur again until the ''Kin'yoshu''. This is a simple play on the name of the flower, but the extended wordplay and the image of the flowers standing out ready to be worn furnish a kind of comic charm. The three KKS poems (239-241) portray the flower as a cast off, discarded, or forgotten pair of trousers. This poem presents the opposite situation; a finished pair set out and ready to be worn, but no one to use it.

== 352 ==

秋風にあひとしあへば花すすきいづれともなくほにぞいでける

 akikaze ni                In the autumn wind
 ahi to si ahe-ba          That blows forth and meets them all
 hanasusuki                The ''susuki'' plants
 idure to mo naku          Every one, no exception,
 ho ni zo ide-keru         Their stalks appear and come forth.

--

The ''susuki'' return from the first autumn volume. Kifune reads this as a light, comic poem -- the personified plants are meeting the autumn wind (a man) and their love comes forth. Kudo and Katagiri, probably working off the usual negative meaning of autumn wind, read it in a different way. The imagery is hard to interpret, but Katagiri uses a KKS poem to suggest that it is lamenting and sorrow that is coming forth when the wind of ''aki'' meets them. Kifune's reading would fit better with the light, comic nature of 351. But the sadder love meaning is a better link to the next poem. Perhaps both are possible?

== 353 ==

寛平御時后の家の歌合に

At the Empress' Poetry Competition in the Kampyo Era

在原棟梁

Ariwara no Muneyana

花すすきそよともすれば秋風のふくかとぞきくひとりぬるよは

 hanasusuki                When the pampas grass
 soyo to mo sure-ba        Softly rustles in the night
 akikaze no                The wind of autumn
 huku ka to zo kiku        Is blowing, or so it sounds,
 hitoru nuru yo ha         When I am sleeping alone.

--

This can be a general poem about the sadness of autumn, and how even the softest rustling noise outside can make you feel the autumn wind. It could also be a woman waiting for a man who has abandoned her, feeling the wind of ''aki'' in the rustling of the grass. The version in the poetry contest and the ''Shinsen man'yoshu'' reads ''koromo naki mi ha'' (for my self without clothing) in the last line.

== 354 ==

題知らず

Topic unknown

よみ人も

Also the poet

はなすすきほにいでやすき草なれば身にならむとはたのまれなくに

 hanasusuki               The pampas grasses
 ho ni ide-yasuki         Reveal their stalks easily
 kusa nare-ba             And though I know that
 mi ni nara-mu to ha      Waiting for a fruit to come
 tanoma-re-naku ni        Is not something I can trust...

--

The poem trails off in the end, suggesting a conclusion. Opinions have differed on the meaning. One reading is that this person I love shows his or her feelings too easily, and I can't count on them being faithful in the end -- yet I still love them. Another reading is that it specifically focuses on a hidden love; that when someone reveals that love to you, you probably can't count on it (but you do it anyway). Nakayama was the only one to take the position that this was not about love, but the association of ''ho ni idu'' with revealing one's feelings is strong in Heian poetry.

== 355 ==

秋風にさそはれわたる雁がねは雲ゐはるかにけふぞきこゆる

 akikaze ni               Invited here by
 sasoha-re wataru         The autumn wind, the voice of
 kari ga ne ha            Geese crossing the sky:
 kumowi haruka ni         Far away beyond the clouds
 kehu zo kikoyuru         Today is when I hear it.

--

Geese appear in a few spring poems as they leave for the season, but they are a much greater presence in autumn poetry both in the KKS and GSS. The idea of the geese being invited back by autumn wind is found in the KKS and goes back to Chinese poetry.

== 356 ==

越の方に思ふ人侍りける時に

When there was someone he thought about in Koshi

つらゆき

Tsurayuki

秋のよに雁かもなきてわたるなりわが思ふ人の事づてやせし

 aki no yo ni               On this autumn night
 kari ka mo naki-te         The cry perhaps of a geese
 wataru nari                Passing by I hear.
 waga omohu hito no         Surely the one I think of
 kotodute ya se-si          Did not send me a message.

;Koshi
:An ancient province that was later divided into Echizen, Etchū, and Echigo.

;Perhaps of a geese
:The three modern editions all agree that the ''kamo'' in ''karikamo'' is "maybe", and Katagiri says this occurs in the MYS as well. Previous commentators had a difficult time with this, taking it as a mistake for ''karigane'' (geese), as ''kamo'' being a general name for any water bird, or as a sentence-ending exclamation. Only Sogi, the earliest commentator on this poem, agrees with the modern scholars.

--

The idea of the goose sending a message may be based on a Chinese legend of Sū Wǔ sending a message by a goose, but the idea may have passed into common understanding by this time. Tsurayuki hears the goose coming from the direction of Koshi and wonders if his love has sent a message.

== 357 ==

題知らず

Topic unknown

あき風に霧とびわけてくるかりの千世にかはらぬ声きこゆなり

 akikaze ni              On the autumn wind
 kiri tobi-wake-te       Flying through the misty sky
 kuru kari no            The geese coming back
 tiyo ni kahara-nu       A thousand ages unchanged
 kowe kikoyu nari        Their voice can be heard below.

;Geese
:The word ''kari'' also suggests "temporary", which is then contradicted by the ''tiyo'' (thousand ages) in the next line.

--

The meaning of the poem is fairly direct, but both Nakayama and Kifune suggested it might be a celebratory screen painting. The "thousand ages" is common in poems praising an Emperor or other high-ranking person. Nakayama suggests the entry into palace service of a Consort. But this poem is not found in the ''Tsurayuki Collection'' so we have no more information about its context.

== 358 ==

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

物思ふと月ひのゆくもしらざりつかりこそなきて秋とつげつれ

 mono omohu to                  Absorbed in worry
 tukihi no yuku mo              Even the passage of days
 sira-zari-tu                   I did not realize.
 kari koso naki-te              It was the cry of the geese
 aki to tuge-ture               That told me autumn was here.

--

This might seem like a "beginning of autumn" poem but the idea is that this person's worry has been so great that they didn't realize it was autumn until late in the season when the geese arrived. If the ''worry'' is love worries, this could be a woman waiting for a man to visit, and she hears the cry of the geese telling her that ''aki'' (autumn, and the man's abandonment) has come.

== 359 ==

大和にまかりけるついでに

While going down to Yamato

かりがねのなきつるなへに唐衣たつたの山はもみぢしにけり

 karigane no                As soon as the geese 
 naki-turu nahe ni          Cry on their return, just then,
 karakoromo                 The Chinese clothing
 tatuta no yama ha          Tatsuta mountain is filled
 momidi si-ni-keri          With the colored autumn leaves.

;Chinese clothing
:''karakoromo'' is a pillow word for Mt. Tatsuta because ''tatu'' means "cut [cloth]". It's possible that there's also a link between the colored robes and the autumn leaves.

--

The poems continue to hint at the autumn leaves, while holding off the major block of poems until later in this volume. This poem also appears in the ''Man'yoshu'', the ''Hitomaro Collection'', and the ''Yakamochi Collection'' with textual variations in each. This seems to be a poem that was rewritten or transmitted differently several times, but the prose preface is unique to the GSS.

== 360 ==

題知らず

Topic unknown

秋風にさそはれ渡るかりがねは物思ふ人のやどをよかなん

 akikaze ni                  Invited back by
 sasoha-re wataru            The autumn wind, the geese that
 karigane ha                 Cross high in the sky,
 mono omohu hito no          I would have you stay away
 yado wo yoka-nan            From the house of one in worry.

--

The cry of geese is sometimes said to bring worry because it reminds the hearer of autumn. So the poet wishes that the geese would avoid his house. The feeling is similar to KKS 145:
::夏山に鳴くほととぎす心あらば物思ふ我に声な聞かせそ
::O cuckoo that cries in the mountains: if you have a heart, do not let me in my sorrow hear your voice.

This poem was included by Teika in the ''Kindai shuka'' and ''Eiga no taigai'' selections of poetry.

== 361 ==

誰きけと鳴く雁金ぞわがやどのを花が末を過ぎがてにして

 tare kike to                Who do you cry to
 naku karigane zo            Telling them to listen, goose?
 waga yado no                It seems hard for you
 wobana ga suwe wo           To avoid the pampas tips
 sugi-gate ni site           In the garden of my house.

--

If we read this as a continuation of the previous poem, the geese, invited by the swaying pampas grass in the wind, are crying out to the poet to listen. But he is sunk down in worry and does not want to hear. The idea of the pampas grass inviting people occurs in other GSS and KSS poems, but the pairing of pampas grass and geese is new to the GSS. Kudo likens it to a screen painting with pampas at the bottom and geese flying overhead at the top.

== 362 ==

往き還りここもかしこも旅なれやくる秋ごとにかりかりとなく

 yuki kaeri              Coming and going
 koko mo kasiko mo       Flying here and flying there
 tabi nare ya            Always traveling,
 kuru aki goto ni        Perhaps that's why every fall
 karikari to naku        The geese cry "kari! kari!"

;kari! kari!
:In the MYS the idea already appeared that the ''kari'' (goose) was named after its cry, which sounded like ''kari''. This also plays on ''kari'' "temporary".

--

This is a comic haikai style poem -- the geese cry "kari" because they never stay in one place for too long. The idea of the geese crying "kari" is found in the MYS but in Heian court poetry only in the GSS. Katagari highlights this as an expression of the more casual style of the GSS.

This poem and the next two form a small block on this idea of the geese's cry being "kari!"0

== 363 ==

秋ごとにくれどかへればたのまぬを声にたてつつかりとのみなく

 akigoto ni                    In every autumn
 kure-do kahere-ba             They come but then soon depart
 tanoma-nu wo                  So we can't trust them,
 kowe ni ta-te-tutu            Then why do they raise their voice
 kari to nomi naku             Over and over, "kari!"

--

"We already don't trust you to stay, you don't need to go out of your way to cry 'I'm only here temporarily!'" Like the last poem, this is a comic one playing on the sound of the geese's cry. Kifune notes the undercurrent of the ''aki'' pun hinting at a love meaning with a man coming and going, although this is likely just an additional comic effect.

== 364 ==

ひたすらにわがおもはなくにおのれさへかりかりとのみなきわたるらん

 hitasura ni                    Already I don't
 waga omoha-naku ni             Think of you that earnestly --
 onore sahe                     You do not have to
 karikari to nomi               Fly here and there crying out
 naki-wataru-ran                Nothing but "kari! kari!"

--

This poem is very similar in feeling to the previous one, completing the small group of three poems. Kigin and Norinaga read the poem as referring to the impermanence of the world. They may have felt that the poem's meaning was too much in the ''haikai'' style otherwise. But Nakayama and all the modern commenters disagree.

A very similar poem attributed to Tsurayuki appears in the ''Kokin waka rokujo'':
::ひたすらに我がきかなくに雲わけてかりぞかりぞと告げわたるらん
::I'm not really listening that intently, but they fly out of the clouds crying "Kari zo kari zo!" all over the place.

== 365 ==

人の「雁は来にけり」と申すを聞きて

He heard someone say "The geese have come."

みつね

Mitsune

年ごとに雲地まどはぬかりがねは心づからや秋をしるらん

 tosi-goto ni            Each and every year
 kumodi madoha-nu        They are not lost in the cloud road,
 karigane ha             The flying geese:
 kokorodukara ya         From their own hearts they must know
 aki wo siru-ran         That autumn has now arrived.

;They are not lost
:Kifune emends the text to ''madoha-zu kuru kane ha'', the reading of many alternate manuscripts and the ''Kokin waka rokujo''. His reasoning is that the base text's version doesn't match the prose preface.

--

This is a simple and direct poem; the preface indicates it was composed on the spot in response to what a person said. Perhaps it was an especially cloudy day and the geese appeared out of the clouds.

== 366 ==

大和にまかりける時、かれこれともにて

When he was going down to Yamato, there were various people with him

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

天河かりぞとわたるさほ山のこずゑはむべも色づきにけり

 ama no gaha             In heaven's river
 kari zo to wataru       They geese cry and cross the gate
 sahoyama no             Oh, now I see why
 kozuwe ha mube mo       Branches on Saho Mountain
 iroduki-ni-keri         Are tinged with autumn color.

;Heaven's river
:While this is the sky, it may also suggest a place in Yamato called ''ten no kawa''.

;Saho Mountain
:A place in Yamato, known for its autumn leaves.

--

Kifune seems to be the only commenter who offers a reading that incorporates the prose preface. The poet is in a group of people crossing this river on or around Saho mountain. He uses this poem to compare them to geese crossing through the sky. He was hoping to see autumn leaves in this mountain, where they are famous, and so he notes the color on the branches. The GSS continues to hint at autumn leaves, the major block of which will appear soon.

KKS 267 provides a poetic precedent for Saho Mountain's leaves turning red late in the autumn.

== 367 ==

兼輔朝臣、左近少将に侍りける時、武蔵の御馬迎へにまかりたつ日、にはかに障ることありて、代わりに、同じ司の少将にて迎へにまかりて、逢坂より随身を帰して、いひ送り侍りける

When Lord Kanesuke was a Left Minor Captain, on the day he was supposed to go to Musashi to receive the horses, something unexpectedly came up, and in his place, another Minor Counselor of the same office went, and from Osaka he sent back a retainer with this poem.

藤原忠房朝臣

Lord Fujiwara no Tadafusa

秋きりのたちのの駒をひく時は心にのりて君ぞこひしき

 akikiri no                 Autumn mist shrouded
 tatino no koma wo          Tachi field's horse I received
 hiku toki ha               And when I took it,
 kokoro ni nori-te          Riding atop my spirit
 kimi zo kohisiki           Was longing for your presence.

;Receive the horses
:This took place on the 15th day of the 8th month, when various provinces would send horses to the Emperor. Someone would go to the Osaka barrier to formally receive them.

--

This is another example of the GSS including an occasional poem written on a yearly function of the type that does not appear in KKS poetry. Tadafusa sent this poem along with acknowledgment that the horses had been received. The poem uses seasonal imagery as well as the image of "riding" used for connection to the horse as well as his thoughts for Kanesuke. The dates of Kanesuke's career are hard to pin down, but this poem would have been read sometime between 913 and 916.

== 368 ==

題知らず

Topic unknown

在原元方

Ariwara no Motokata

いその神ふるのの草も秋は猶色ことにこそあらたまりけれ

 iso no kami               Iso no Kami
 huruno no kusa mo         Even old Furu Field grass
 aki ha naho               In autumn, indeed
 iro koto ni koso          Especially the color
 aratamari-kere            Changes itself as if new.

;Iso no Kami
:''iso no kami'' is usually a pillow word for ''huru'' (old). Here it leads into "Furu Field", perhaps because both Iso no Kami and Furu Field are in Yamato province. The name of the field suggests "old".

--

The poems continue to move towards autumn leaves, though still away from the capital. The main poetic device here is the opposition of ''huru'' (old) in the name of Furu Field, and ''arata'' (new) embedded in the verb ''aratamaru'' (become like new).

== 369 ==

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

秋の野の錦のごとも見ゆるかな色なきつゆはそめじと思ふに
 
 aki no no no                The fields of autumn
 nisiki no goto mo           Like a brocade of fabric
 miyuru kana                 Appear to our eyes!
 iro naki tuyu ha            Though the dew has no color
 some-ji to omohu ni         So it couldn't dye the leaves...

--

See GSS 310 in the previous volume. The idea that the dew is what causes autumn leaves to change colors was commonplace. The poem recalls KKS 257:
::白露の色はひとつをいかにして秋の木の葉をちぢに染むらん
::White dew has but one color, so how does it stain the leaves of the autumn trees with many hues?
But the dew here is not white, it's completely colorless.

The use of ''nisiki'' (brocade) as a symbol of autumn leaves is found in the KKS and goes back to Chinese poetry.

== 370 ==

あきののにいかなるつゆのおきつめばちぢの草葉の色かはるらん

 aki no no ni                In the autumn fields
 ika naru tuyu no            What kind of dew can it be
 oki-tume-ba                 When it piles up
 tidi no kusaba no           All the various grasses
 iro kaharu-ran              Seem to change many colors?

--

This poem is a companion to 369, addressing the same idea.

== 371 ==

いづれをかわきてしのばむ秋ののにうつろはむとて色かはる草

 idure wo ka                 Which of them should I
 waki-te sinoba-mu           Single out to long for
 aki no no ni                In the autumn field
 uturoha-mu to te            In order to fade away
 iro kaharu kusa             The grasses change their color.

--

The standard way to read this is that all the grasses of the field are changing color and will soon scatter their leaves and die. They're all pitiful, but how can I choose one to single out and long for? Nakayama is the lone dissenter. He reads ''uturohu'' with its secondary love meaning of "turn to another lover". The grasses are portrayed as flighty women who change their color just to change their hearts. They're beautiful, but not reliable. So should the poet go after them, or should they go after the more reliable grasses that are less beautiful? This interpretation seems less likely to me.

== 372 ==

声たててなきぞしぬべき秋きりに友まどはせるしかにはあらねど

 kowe tate-te                Raising up my voice
 naki zo si-nu-beki          It seems as if I will cry.
 akikiri ni                  Though it's not as if
 tomo mado-hase-ru           I'm a deer, seeking its friend,
 sika ni ha arane-do         Lost in the mist of autumn.

--

Deer appear in a block of poems in the KKS, but for some reason GSS uses them only in 298, 372, 373 and a couple of poems in the non-seasonal books. The stereotypical image is of the deer crying for its mate. In this case ''tomo'' would suggest a friend rather than a mate. Kifune reads it as a love poem, but Kigin analyzes it as general autumn sorrow. Katagiri simply translates ''tomo'' as "friend." Nakayama keeps the option of a friend or lover open, perhaps doubtful about whether ''tomo'' can actually be used to refer to a lover.

== 373 ==

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

誰きけと声高砂にさをしかのながながし夜をひとりなくらん

 tare kike to                 Who do you call to
 kowe takasago ni             Raising your voice in the mountains
 sawosika no                  You forlorn deer
 naganagasi yo wo             It seems that through the long night
 hitori naku-ran              You and I both cry alone.

;Raising your voice
:''kowe takasago'' is a pivot construction on ''kowe takasi'' (loud voice) and ''takasago'' (here acting as a common noun meaning "mountain").

--

The last two lines of this poem are perhaps derived from the famous poem attributed to Hitomaro, SIS 778:
::あしひきの山鳥の尾のしだり尾のながながし夜をひとりかも寝む
::I will sleep the long night, like the long drooping tail of the mountain bird.

The first line recalls GSS 361 above.

== 374 ==

打ちはへて影とぞたのむ峯の松色どる秋の風にうつるな

 utihahete                    For a long time now
 kage to zo tanomu            I have relied on your shade
 mine no matu                 O pine on the peak,
 irodoru aki no               Do not fade in autumn winds
 kaze ni uturu na             That give color to the leaves.

--

The surface meaning here is that the evergreen pine is still buffeted by the winds of autumn, which the poet is portraying as causing the leaves to change color. The poet is begging the tree to preserve its cooling shade even in the wind.

Since ''kage'' can also mean "favor" or "protection", most commenters think there is a secondary meaning here, although without a prose preface it's hard to pin down. It might be directed to a lord or patron to thank them for their favor and beg for their continued patronage. Or, it might be a love poem, with a woman trusting in the man and asking him not to shift his attention to other women. Kifune offers another alternative, that if ''mine'' is read as a pun on "not see," the man has not seen the woman yet.

== 375 ==

はつしぐれふれば山べぞおもほゆるいづれの方のまづもみづらん

 hatu sigure                  The first late year rain
 hure-ba yamabe zo            When it falls I come to think
 omohoyuru                    Of the mountain ridge.
 idure no kata no             From which place does it begin
 madu momidu-ran              The first leaves changing color.

;Late year rain
:''sigure'', which is either a late autumn or early winter rain.

--

The seasonal ''sigure'' rain falls in late autumn or early winter; in the KKS and GSS it appears in a few autumn poems but mostly in winter. Both the MYS and KKS have examples of the idea that these rains cause the leaves to change color.

The poem reappears as the first poem of the Winter volume; see there for comments on the duplication.

== 376 ==

いもがひもとくとむすぶとたつた山今ぞ紅葉の錦おりける

 imo ga himo                My lover's robe cord
 toku to musubu to          Tied to release I set off
 tatutayama                 On Mount Tatsuya
 ima zo momidi no           Now the colored autumn leaves
 nisiki ori-keru            Have been woven as brocade.

;I set off / on Mount Tatsuya
:This is a pivot construction with ''tatu'' (set out) and ''tatutayama'' (Mount Tatsuya), and also ''tatu'' (cut cloth).

--

This poem is difficult to represent in English translation. The first two lines appear to be a poetic preface with no connection to the autumn imagery. The technique of the poem comes from the many ''engo'' (related words) in the first two lines surrounding cloth, and then the ''engo'' in the second part connecting to ''nisiki'' (brocade). There is a theme of cloth through the whole poem, but while the autumn image is clear and pedestrian, the interest of the poem seems to be in the wordplay.

A very similar poem appears in the MYS (10.2211), with the last line ''hazime-te ari-kere'' (The autumn leaves have begun). It appears in the ''Hitomaro Collection'' and the ''Yakamochi Collection'', and several non-Teika manuscripts attribute the poem to Fukayabu.

== 377 ==

雁なきて寒き朝の露ならし龍田の山をもみだすものは

 kari naki-te               The geese are crying
 samuki asita no            In the cold of the morning
 tuyu narasi                It seems there is dew
 tatuta no yama wo          Thus on Tatsuta Mountain
 momidasu mono ha           The leaves are starting to change.

--

The dew is perhaps the tears of geese (Kudo), which is an image found in the KKS. Dew is one of several things that poetically cause leaves to change. Kigin seems to read the geese as just a part of a scene being evoked (perhaps like a screen painting) and not part of the leaves changing.

== 378 ==

見るごとに秋にもなるかなたつたひめもみぢそむとや山もきるらん

 miru goto ni               Each time I see it
 aki ni mo naru kana        It shows that autumn has come!
 tatuta hime                Princess Tatsuya
 momidi somu to ya          Perhaps so to dye the leaves
 yama mo kiru-ran           Mist falls over the mountains.

--

Princess Tatsuta appeared in one earlier GSS poem (265) and in one KKS poem; she is a goddess that is said to control autumn. The exact meaning is difficult to pin down; there is perhaps a play with ''kiru'' on "mist" and "wear". Some commenters have the mountains wearing a brocade of autumn leaves woven by Tatsuta, others a robe of mist. The problem is that ''kiru'' meaning "mist" is an intransitive verb, so the grammatical relationship of line 5 to lines 3-4 is unclear. The modern commenters all translate ''to ya'' as ''no de'' (because), but I cannot find this meaning in any reference work I consulted.

== 379 ==

源宗于朝臣

Minamoto no Muneyuki

梓弓いるさの山は秋きりのあたるごとにや色まさるらん

 adusayumi                  The catalpa bow
 irusa no yama ha           Shooting at Mount Irusa
 akikiri no                 Wherever the mist
 ataru goto ni ya           Hits and settles down, perhaps
 iro masaru-ran             The leaves' color then deepens.

;Catalpa bow
:This is a pillow word for ''irusa'' and also links to the ''ataru'' (hit) later in the poem.

--

The meaning is once again the mist causing the autumn leaves to turn color. The use of ''ataru'' in the fourth line has caused some concern; clearly it's being used as ''engo'' (poetic assocation) with the bow from the first line, since it means "to hit [a target]". What it means with mist is harder to say. Kifune calls it a fruitless attempt at a wordplay. Other commenters wonder whether it might mean ''atari'' (area), although the ''goto ni'' (each time/each place) would not work well with that.