Kakinagasu koto no ha o dani shizumu na yo mi koso kakutemo yamakawa no mizu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

書き流す言の葉をだに沈むなよ
身こそかくても山川の水

Roma-ji: Kakinagasu koto no ha o dani shizumu na yo mi koso kakutemo yamakawa no mizu
English Translation: These words I have let
flow from my brush—at least
let them not sink down,
though I myself am thus,
like water of a mountain stream.
Meaning: At least do not let these words I have written sink away, though I myself am sunk like the water of a mountain stream.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1777

Headnote: "Written at the end of a hundred-poem sequence I had composed, when I sent it to Minamoto no Ienaga to look at."
This is the third of the poems using the flow of rivers to lament one's lot. At least let the words he has written not sink away, though he himself is sunk like this. According to the headnote, he wrote it at the end of a hundred-poem sequence of his own sent to Minamoto no Ienaga, hoping that, obscure as he is, his poems at least might not be buried.
The author, "Fujiwara no Yukiyoshi," was the son of Fujiwara no Koretsune. Born into a family of calligraphers, he excelled at the brush.
Minamoto no Ienaga managed the affairs of Retired Emperor Go-Toba's Poetry Office, and his diary, the Minamoto no Ienaga Nikki, survives.

The first line, "kakinagasu," means "written freely as the brush ran." "Nagasu," to let flow, is an associated word for "the water of a mountain stream" in the last line.
The second line, "koto no ha o dani," means "at least these words." "Dani" carries the sense "whatever becomes of me."
The third line, "shizumu na yo," means "do not let them sink." Through the image of water it speaks of being buried in obscurity, and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "mi koso kakutemo," means "though I myself am like this," referring to his obscure, sunken lot.
The last line, "yamakawa no mizu," is the water of a stream flowing through the mountains. Ending on a noun, it figures himself sinking in the current, closing the lament through the flow of rivers begun in the two preceding poems.
Author: Fujiwara no Yukiyoshi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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