Meet the Poets of Hyakunin Isshu
Fun'ya no Yasuhide

Meaning

The moment the autumn wind blows, the grasses and trees wither. Now I understand why the mountain wind is called "arashi" — storm.

Commentary

In the poet's day, "arashi" referred not to a violent rainstorm, as we use the word now, but to a strong wind sweeping down from the mountains.

The poem is also notable for its use of a technique from Chinese poetry — the splitting and combining of characters to form new ones — applied here within the Japanese waka form.

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