Hyakunin Isshu #69

    The autumn leaves of
maples from Mount Mimuro
    where the storm winds blow
are indeed a rich brocade
here on Tatsuta River.

—24 June 2010

Original by Nôin, a monk whose birth name was Tachibana no Nagayasu. The directness and simplicity of this poem is often commented on. Geographical problem: there are couple mountains named Mimuro in the Nara/Yamato region, but neither are close to the Tatsuta River (see #17). A hill called Mimuro near where Tatsuta flows into the Yamato River has been suggested. Note that narikeri is not a conjugation of naru ("to become") but of a classical form of modern de aru = the cupola da, so the leaves don't become but "are" the brocade.


arashi fuku
mimuro no yama no
momijiba wa
tatsuta no kawa no
nishiki narikeri

---L.