Spin & Discover Kakekotoba!
Poem 22: Fun’ya no Yasuhide
Try to find the kakekotoba hidden in the poem and tap it.
The word you tap will spin right where it is, revealing its two meanings in turn.
吹くからに
秋の草木の
しをるれば
むべ山風を
あらしといふらむ
Commentary
The word "arashi" is a kakekotoba.
A kakekotoba layers two meanings onto a single word that sounds the same either way.
Here, "arashi" carries both "嵐" (storm) and "荒らし" (lays waste).
Put the two characters of "yamakaze" (山風, mountain wind) together and you get the single character "嵐" (storm). The poem plays on this discovery: it is precisely because the wind blowing down from the mountains lays waste to the autumn grasses and trees, withering them, that people must call it a "storm."
Packing two meanings into just thirty-one syllables is exactly what makes kakekotoba so appealing.
Vocabulary
The moment the wind blows.
Because they wilt. Describes plants drooping and weakening.
Indeed, of course. Expresses a feeling of realization.
Wind blowing down from the mountains.
To lay waste, to blow violently.
Must be why it is called. "Ramu" expresses a guess at the present cause or reason.