Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.32 春道列樹「山川に 風のかけたる しがらみは 流れもあへぬ 紅葉なりけり」

山川に 風のかけたる しがらみは 流れもあへぬ 紅葉なりけり

春道列樹

someone dammed the stream — it was the wind, with leaves

someone dammed the stream — it was the wind, with leaves

キーワードKeywords

WeirDammed LeavesMountain StreamWind as BuilderBlockage
Nature/Seasons Autumn

春道列樹Harumichi no Tsuraki — No. 32 官人Official

An official of whom almost nothing is known; he survives on the strength of this single poem.

やまがはに かぜのかけたる しがらみは ながれもあへぬ もみぢなりけり

Yamagawa ni Kaze no kaketaru Shigarami wa Nagare mo aenu Momiji nari keri

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

A mountain stream with what looks like a low weir built across it. Nobody built it: wind pushed fallen maple leaves into the narrows until they packed tight enough to hold water back.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Mitate (Nature as Craft)

Attributing agency and craft to weather turns an accident into an artefact. Look at what randomness has assembled in your material and credit it as construction — then decide whether to keep it.