In the autumn field, where the wind keeps sweeping over the white dew, it looks as if unstrung jewels are scattering everywhere.
Early Heian period. The poet, Fun'ya no Asayasu, was the son of Fun'ya no Yasuhide, one of the Six Poetic Geniuses and author of "Fuku kara ni" (No. 22). Father and son both made it into the Hyakunin Isshu, and both sang of the "wind." Never blessed with court rank, he has survived a thousand years through this one limpid poem of pure scenery.
In an autumn field where the wind blows and blows, beads of dew, unstrung on any thread, scatter in disarray — a moment of pure beauty captured just as it is, nothing more. Precisely because they are "tsuranuki-tomenu" (not held fast on a cord), the dewdrops scatter freely, and precisely because they scatter, they shine like jewels.
Rather than mourning the dew that scatters unstrung, this adaptation rereads it as "shining precisely because it cannot be held." "String them on a thread and you have a necklace / leave them to the wind and you have shooting stars" — choosing the momentary sparkle over preservation. That, we felt, is the modern rendering of "tsuranuki-tomenu." In the song, the thousand-year-old singing voice rides the wind from the very beginning, and at the end it is passed on to "I will sing too." Everything that scatters is a jewel — a song that affirms letting go.
白露に（文屋朝康・百人一首37番）／Garu JP
白露に 風の吹きしく
つらぬきとめぬ 玉ぞ散りける
泣きそうな朝は 走ることにしてる
ひとりの野原 風が強くて
草のさきで ふるえる露が
私みたいで 目をそらせない
つないでおけない ものばかり
手のひらから こぼれていく
白露に 風の吹きしく
留められない 玉たちが
あんなに ひかるんだ
散らして きらめくままに
だれかが歌う 声がする
白露に 風の吹きしく
つらぬきとめぬ 玉ぞ散りける
涙も いつか 乾いていく
それがさびしくて うれしくて
糸でつなげば 首かざり
風にまかせば 流れ星
かんぺきなまま 残るものより
一瞬きらめく ほうをえらぶ
白露に 風の吹きしく
留められない 玉たちが
あんなに ひかるんだ
こぼれて 涙のままに
風のむこうで あの声がする
白露に 風の吹きしく
つらぬきとめぬ 玉ぞ散りける
doo da ba da doo ba
da di da du da da
千年前の 秋の野原で
おなじ光を 見てた人がいる
散るから ひかるのだと
風がまた 吹く
白露に 風の吹きしく 秋の野は
つらぬきとめぬ 玉ぞ散りける
白露に 風の吹きしく
それでも散る この玉のように
留めずに 生きてみたい 今日を
風といっしょに 駆けていこう
放して ひかりのままに
わたしも歌う あの歌を
散っていくもの ぜんぶ宝石
つらぬきとめぬ 玉ぞ散りける
Shiratsuyu ni (Fun'ya no Asayasu, Hyakunin Isshu No. 37) / Garu JP
Dew in the wind that sweeps the field
Unstrung jewels, scattering light
On mornings I could cry, I go running
Alone in the field, the wind blowing hard
A dewdrop trembling on a blade of grass
Looks just like me — I can't look away
So many things I cannot hold onto
Spilling one by one from my hands
Dew in the wind that sweeps the field
The jewels no one can hold back
Look how they shine
Scatter them, let them sparkle free
I hear someone singing, somewhere
Dew in the wind that sweeps the field
Unstrung jewels, scattering light
Even tears will dry someday
It makes me sad, it makes me glad
Strung on a thread — a necklace
Given to the wind — shooting stars
Rather than staying perfect forever
I choose to sparkle for one moment
Dew in the wind that sweeps the field
The jewels no one can hold back
Look how they shine
Spilling over, tears and all
Beyond the wind, I hear that voice
Dew in the wind that sweeps the field
Unstrung jewels, scattering light
In an autumn field a thousand years ago
Someone stood watching this same light
"They shine because they scatter"
And the wind blows again
Dew in the wind that sweeps the autumn field
Unstrung jewels, scattering light
Dew in the wind that sweeps the field
Like these jewels that scatter anyway
I want to live today without holding back
Running together with the wind
Let go, and stay as light
I will sing that song too
Everything that scatters is a jewel
Unstrung jewels, scattering light