Yoi goto ni kawazu no amata naku ta ni wa - Ise Monogatari(English Translation & Meaning)

宵ごとにかはづのあまたなく田には
水こそまされ雨は降らねど

Roma-ji: Yoi goto ni kawazu no amata naku ta ni wa
mizu koso masare ame wa furanedo
English Translation: Each evening again
In the fields where many frogs
Are crying aloud,
The water only grows more—
Though no rain at all may fall.
Meaning: Each evening, in the rice fields where many frogs cry out, the water increases even though no rain falls—perhaps from the frogs’ tears.
Commentary: 108. When the Wind Blows

This poem was composed by the man as a reply after hearing the woman’s poem lamenting his heartlessness: “When the wind blows on, is it like a rock always crossed by rising waves? My sleeves have no time to dry.”

Even if rain does not fall, the water increases in the rice fields where male frogs cry out in search of female frogs. The meaning may be that if a woman troubles the hearts of many men, one may feel moved to cry out as well.
Both the man and the woman compose poems about their own tears, yet their feelings do not quite meet, like a lovers’ quarrel.
Source: Ise Monogatari
Prev Poem: Kaze fukeba towa ni nami kosu iwa nare ya
waga koromode no kawaku toki naki
Next Poem: Hana yori mo hito koso ada ni narinikere
izure o saki ni koimu to ka mishi

Yoi goto ni kawazu no amata naku ta ni wa mizu koso masare ame wa furanedo