Kiri fukaki aki no nonaka no wasuremizu taemagachi naru koro ni mo aru kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

霧深き秋の野中の忘れ水
絶え間がちなる頃にもあるかな

Roma-ji: Kiri fukaki aki no nonaka no wasuremizu taemagachi naru koro ni mo aru kana
English Translation: In the deep, thick mist
in the middle of autumn fields
the forgotten stream—
like it, so often broken off,
these are the days I live now
Meaning: Like the forgotten stream that flows, broken and fitful, through the autumn fields in the deep mist, these are days when our meetings are so often broken off.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1211

Headnote: "To a woman who became hard to meet after they had met."
This is the third poem of the sequence on a love whose visits have ceased. As the forgotten stream in the misty autumn fields flows only now and then, these are days when their meetings are often broken off. According to the headnote, it was sent to a woman who became hard to meet after they had once met.
The author, "Sakanoue no Korenori," was a poet of the Kokinshū era, counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "kiri fukaki," means "deep in mist." It suggests water hidden and hard to see in the mist, a hint of how hard she is to meet.
The second line, "aki no nonaka no," means "in the middle of the autumn fields."
The third line, "wasuremizu," is water that flows fitfully through fields and elsewhere, unknown to anyone. The upper three lines form a preface leading to "taema," "break," in the fourth line. The word "wasure," "forgotten," suggests one who is being forgotten.
The fourth line, "taemagachi naru," means "so often broken off." The breaking of the stream's flow overlaps with the breaking off of meetings. Like "madō" in the preceding poem, it sings of the long intervals between visits.
The last line, "koro ni mo aru kana," means "such are these days," closing with the exclamatory "kana."
Author: Sakanoue no Koreyuki
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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