Hyakunin Isshu #87

[lnhammer]

    The mist is rising
among kusamaki leaves
    that are not yet dry
from the passing rainshower --
an evening in autumn.

—12 August 2010

Original by Jakuren, a monk whose lay name was Fujiwara no Sadanaga, nephew and adopted son of Toshinari (#83) and so older adoptive brother of Teika (#97). Maki is sometimes used generically for any evergreen timber wood and sometimes means specifically kusamaki, a conifer of the yellowwood family vaguely related to the yews, occasionally translated as "yew plum pine." Given Jakuren's reputation, I decided specific is a better image and so better poetry. The "rising" could indicate the mist is either growing or dispersing, but is usually understood to be the former. I'm not all that sure I've correctly construed ni (which is a particularly troublesome particle for me) but "among" is the only way I can find that makes geometric sense.


murasame no
tsuyu mo mada hinu
maki no ha ni
kiri tachinoboru
aki no yûgure

---L.