Namidagawa nani minakami o tazunekemu mono omou toki no waga mi narikeri - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

涙川なに水上を尋ねけむ
物思ふ時のわが身なりけり

Roma-ji: Namidagawa nani minakami o tazunekemu mono omou toki no waga mi narikeri
English Translation: The river of tears
why did I seek out its source
for it turns out
to be myself when I am
lost in thoughts of love
Meaning: Why did I go searching for the source of the river of tears? It was none other than myself, when I brood over love.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 511

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Likening tears to a river, the poet sought its source only to discover that it was none other than himself, troubled by love. Using the exaggerated metaphor of a "river of tears," it wittily expresses both the abundance of flowing tears and the discovery that their cause lies in the poet's own love.

First line, "The river of tears": namidagawa is a figure for tears flowing like a river. Poem 527 of this book begins with the same line, and together with "the river of tears" in poems 529 and 531, the river of tears is sung of repeatedly in the latter half of the book.
Second line, "why did I seek out its source": minakami is the source of a river. Nani means why.
Third line, "for it turns out": tazunekemu means "why would I have sought?", with kemu an auxiliary of conjecture about the past. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "to be myself when I am": mono omou toki no means of the time when I am brooding over love.
Fifth line, "lost in thoughts of love": keri in waga mi narikeri expresses the sigh of realization, showing the discovery that the source of the tears was the poet himself. The expression also resonates with the last line of poem 534 of this book, waga mi narikere.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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