Chirikakaru momiji nagarenu ōigawa izure iseki no mizu no shigarami

English Translation

Scattering leaves fall
and the crimson does not flow
on the Ōi River;
which one is the weir, and which
the brushwood barrier of the stream?

Meaning

On the Ōi River the crimson leaves that fall upon it do not flow away but linger. Which is the true weir, and which the brushwood barrier holding back the water?

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 555

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When the courtiers went to the Ōi River in the reign of Retired Emperor Go-Reizei and composed on the theme 'Autumn Leaves Floating on the Water.'"
This is the third poem of the falling-leaves sequence. On the Ōi River, where the falling leaves linger instead of flowing away, the speaker cannot tell which is the weir and which the brushwood barrier. The headnote continues from the preceding poem, and this poem was composed on the same occasion on the topic "Autumn Leaves Floating on the Water."
The author, "Major Counselor Tsunenobu," is Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A son of the Minister of Popular Affairs Minamoto no Michikata, he rose to Senior Second Rank and Major Counselor and died at his post as Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu. Known as the Katsura Major Counselor, he was the father of Minamoto no Toshiyori.
The scene is early winter as the leaves fall, and the place is the Ōi River in Yamashiro Province.
As with the preceding poem, the direct occasion is the topic "Autumn Leaves Floating on the Water," set when the courtiers went out to the Ōi River.
The device of seeing autumn leaves as a river barrier has a precedent in the Kokin Wakashū poem by Harumichi no Tsuraki: "Yamagawa ni kaze no kaketaru shigarami wa nagare mo aenu momiji narikeri" (The barrier the wind has flung across the mountain stream is made of autumn leaves that cannot flow away).

The first line, "chirikakaru," speaks of leaves falling as if showering down from above.
In the second line, "momiji nagarenu," "nu" is the attributive form of the negative auxiliary "zu," meaning "leaves that do not flow," and it leads into "Ōigawa" in the third line.
The third line, "ōigawa," names a poetic place in Yamashiro Province, the river flowing at the foot of Arashiyama. Famed for its autumn leaves, it is the same place sung in the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "izure iseki no," asks "which one is the weir?" An "iseki" is a dam built across a river to draw water off into the rice fields.
The last line, "mizu no shigarami," refers to a barrier of stakes interwoven with bamboo or brushwood to hold back the current, and the poem closes on this noun. Because the leaves cover the water and stay put, the real weir and barrier can no longer be told apart from the barrier the leaves have made, taking one step further the Kokin Wakashū poem by Harumichi no Tsuraki that saw leaves as a barrier. Following 553 in this book, where the leaves gathered to dam the stream, here the leaves themselves have become the river's weir.

Author

Minamoto no Tsunenobu

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other