[70] さ (Sa)

 Poem Meaning and Background

"Banshu"(Late Autumn), print by Brian Williams

さびしさに・やどをたちいでて・ながむれば
sabishisa ni・yado o tachi idete・nagamureba

いづこもおなじ・あきのゆふぐれ

izuko mo onaji・aki no yūgure

〜良暹法師（Ryōzen Hōshi）

Translation

In my loneliness

I leave my little hut.

When I look around,

Everywhere it is the same:

One lone, darkening autumn eve.

Meaning

The author of this poem was a monk who had just undergone training at Heizan Temple (比叡山）and had moved to Ōhara  (大原）in Kyoto when he composed this poem. It seems likely that the author felt loneliness in part due to the difference in surroundings; compared to the bustle of Heizan, where many monks lived together during their training, Ōhara has very few people, so he likely felt isolated. 

Around the time that the Shinkokin Wakashū (another imperial poetry anthology) was compiled, the phrase 秋の夕暮れ (akino yuugure; autumn eve) was a somewhat popular phrase in poetry, but it seems that this poem in particular solidified autumn evenings as a symbol of loneliness. Some other famous examples of poems which use the same phrase can be seen in the Shinkokin Wakashū (see poems 361~363), authored by Jakuren Hōshi（寂蓮法師), Saigyō Hōshi (西行法師), and Fujiwara no Teika (藤原定家), respectively. All three poets also have poems in the Hyakunin Isshu. 

The first line, さびしさに means that the poet could no longer endure his sadness. Though 宿(yado) can also mean an inn, it is best translated as "hut"; since the author is a monk, his lodgings would have been very plain. ながむ means "to gaze at" and いづこも means "everywhere"; though he left his hut because he could not bear the feeling of loneliness, everywhere he looks seems to reflect the same feeling of isolation. 

Author

Ryōzen Hōshi (dates unknown) was active as a poet in the mid-Heian period, around 998~1064, with many of his poems being included in imperial anthologies such as the Goshūi Wakashū. He was a Tendai monk who served at Heizan temple, later becoming an abbott at the Gion Monastery. He also lived as a hermit at Ōhara then Unrinin（雲林院） in Kyoto.