Kokinshū no Āto

 

Shiratsuyu no
Iro wa hitotsu o
Ika ni shite
Aki no ko no ha no
Chiji ni somuramu

 

White dew
all of a single color:
how then does it dye
the leaves of autumn
a thousand different shades?

(Poem by Fujiwara no Toshiyuki, from Kokinshū)
(Translation from Traditional Japanese Literature, ed. Haruo Shirane)