About this work

A response poem evokes a moss-cleared threshold, a visitor and a sleeve reflected in water. A separately published tanka source from the former website. Its original introduction, poem, readings and signature are preserved. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.

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日本語原文 Japanese original

本歌取り。ためらふ心と訪なふ人を想ひて
苔はらひ棕櫚縄結びし関守の水面に映る手弱女の袖
   葉山 成秋

English translation 英訳

AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.

After a poem of the past, thinking of a hesitant heart and the visitor who calls:
The barrier keeper brushes away moss and ties a palm-fibre rope;
upon the water is reflected a gentlewoman’s sleeve.
Seishu Hamano, Hayama

Open the Japanese-only page

Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.