秋の田の かりほの庵の 苫をあらみ わが衣手は 露にぬれつつ
Aki no ta no/Kariho no io no/Toma o arami/Waga koromode wa/Tsuyu ni nure tsutsu
English Translation:
Of the autumn paddy, shacks have rough thatching. Sheltering there, my sleeves are wet with dew.
The poem says little about the harshness of work in the fields but rather focuses in aristocratic fashion on the beautiful "yugen" aspect of lonely tranquility in late autumn. As such, it has always been much admired. The interesting thing is that while in classical Japanese poetry wet sleeves are usually associated with tears, because of an unhappy love affair, here the political aspect is paramount. Not all critics agree, however, and some read it as a love poem (Emperor Tenji was said to have competed for the hand of Princess Nukata with his brother and successor, Emperor Tenmu, but there is no proof for such a reading).
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