Yoshinogawa iwanami takaku yuku mizu no hayaku zo hito o omoisometeshi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

吉野川岩波高く行く水の
はやくぞ人を思ひそめてし

Roma-ji: Yoshinogawa iwanami takaku yuku mizu no hayaku zo hito o omoisometeshi
English Translation: Like the Yoshino
its rock-dashed waves running high
as the waters rush
so early and so swiftly
did I begin to love you
Meaning: Like the waters of the Yoshino River, rushing swiftly with waves that break high against the rocks, so early did I begin to love you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 471

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Taking the fierce current of the Yoshino River as its preface, this poem confesses that the poet began to love long ago. The image of rapids surging high against the rocks suggests a love that broke loose and ran beyond restraint. The overlay of the water's "swiftness" with the "earliness" of time is clear and effective, and the poem sings powerfully of love's beginning.
The poet, Ki no Tsurayuki, was one of the compilers of the Kokinshu and is believed to have written its kana preface. He served as governor of Tosa and wrote the Tosa Diary about his journey back to the capital. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "Like the Yoshino": the Yoshino River in Yamato is a famous poetic place known for its rapids. Poem 492 of this book begins with the same first line and shares the third line, "as the waters rush," as well. This poem uses the water's force for the swiftness of love's beginning, while poem 492 uses the water's sound for a resolve never to speak of love, treating the same river in contrasting ways.
Second line, "its rock-dashed waves running high": iwanami are waves that strike the rocks and rise high.
Third line, "as the waters rush": meaning "like the flowing water," and lines one through three form a preface leading to hayaku in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "so early and so swiftly": hayaku is a pivot word meaning both the "swift" current and "early" in time. The emphatic particle zo forms a kakari-musubi construction with teshi at the end.
Fifth line, "did I begin to love you": omoisometeshi means "came to begin loving." The shi is the attributive form of the past auxiliary ki, concluding the construction begun by zo.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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