Takasebune shibuku bakari ni momijiba no nagarete kudaru ōigawa kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

高瀬舟しぶくばかりに紅葉葉の
流れて下る大井川かな

Roma-ji: Takasebune shibuku bakari ni momijiba no nagarete kudaru ōigawa kana
English Translation: The river boat slows,
barely able to move on,
as the crimson leaves
flow and drift down with the current
of the Ōi River
Meaning: How the crimson leaves flow down the Ōi River, so thick that even the flat-bottomed river boats can scarcely make their way!
Commentary: Book Six Winter Poems 556

Headnote: "Composed on the theme 'Fallen Leaves Filling the Water' when going to the Ōi River."
This is the fourth poem of the falling-leaves sequence. It sings of the Ōi River, down which crimson leaves flow so thickly that the river boats can scarcely move. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Fallen Leaves Filling the Water" on an outing to the Ōi River.
The author, "Fujiwara no Ietsune Ason," is Fujiwara no Ietsune. A son of the Consultant Fujiwara no Hironari, he served as Doctor of Letters and Provisional Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial, rising to Senior Fourth Rank Lower. He also excelled at Chinese verse and composed the poems for the Great Thanksgiving Festival of Emperor Go-Reizei.
The scene is early winter when the leaves fill the surface of the river, and the place is the Ōi River in Yamashiro Province.
The direct occasion is the topic "Fallen Leaves Filling the Water," set on an outing to the Ōi River.

The first line, "takasebune," is a small flat-bottomed boat made to travel even shallow rivers.
In the second line, "shibuku bakari ni," "shibuku" means to be held back and struggle to move forward. "So much that the boat can hardly move" conveys the sheer mass of leaves.
The third line, "momijiba no," refers to the crimson leaves and leads into the fourth line.
The fourth line, "nagarete kudaru," shows the leaves flowing down the river. Where the leaves in the preceding poem lingered without flowing, the leaves here fill the river as they drift downstream, so that lingering leaves and flowing leaves form a pair.
The last line, "ōigawa kana," closes with the exclamatory particle "kana." The "Ōigawa" placed in the third line of the preceding poem is set here in the last line, closing the three poems composed at the Ōi River. The topic "Fallen Leaves Filling the Water" is rendered concretely as a mass of leaves heavy enough to hinder the boats.
Author: Fujiwara no Ietsune
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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