Yama takami shita yuku mizu no shita ni nomi nagarete koimu koi wa shinu to mo - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山高み下行く水の下にのみ
流れて恋ひむ恋ひは死ぬとも

Roma-ji: Yama takami shita yuku mizu no shita ni nomi nagarete koimu koi wa shinu to mo
English Translation: The mountains being high
the water flows beneath the trees
and so, beneath it all
I will go on loving
though I should die of love
Meaning: As water flows unseen beneath the trees of the high mountains, so I will go on loving in secret, deep within my heart, even if I die of it.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 494

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Like water flowing unseen in the shade of high mountains, the poet resolves to go on loving secretly in the depths of the heart. The repetition of shita, beneath, stresses the depth of a love that never surfaces. The final line shows the resolve of a hidden love ready even for death, bringing to a close the sequence that entrusts love to water.

First line, "The mountains being high": yama takami means "because the mountains are high," with the suffix mi expressing cause.
Second line, "the water flows beneath the trees": shita yuku mizu is water flowing under trees or in the shadows, a metaphor for hidden love like the "mountain stream" of poem 491 of this book.
Third line, "and so, beneath it all": shita ni nomi means only within the heart, repeating the shita of the second line; lines one through three work as a preface.
Fourth line, "I will go on loving": nagarete means both the water flowing and continuing through time, and mu expresses intention. The poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "though I should die of love": the same final line as poem 492 of this book. The resolve not to make a sound and the resolve to flow on beneath answer one another.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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