Chi no namida ochite zo tagitsu Shirakawa wa kimi ga yo made no na ni koso arikere - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

血の涙落ちてぞたぎつ白河は
君が世までの名にこそありけれ

Roma-ji: Chi no namida ochite zo tagitsu Shirakawa wa kimi ga yo made no na ni koso arikere
English Translation: Tears of blood fall down
and go rushing in a flood—
the River Shirakawa,
"White River" was a name that held
only while your age endured.
Meaning: Tears of blood fall and rush in torrents. The White River, it seems, bore that name only as long as you were alive.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 830

Headnote: "Composed on the night the former Chancellor was escorted to his burial near Shirakawa"
This poem was composed on the night the former Chancellor's remains were taken to Shirakawa. The river is dyed red by tears of blood shed in grief, and the poet laments that the name "White" no longer suits it. The contrast between the white of the place name and the red of blood vividly shows the depth of sorrow.
The former Chancellor is thought to be Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, the first commoner to become regent. He kept a villa at Shirakawa and was also called Lord Shirakawa, so his own name overlaps with the place of his funeral.
The author, Sosei, was a son of Archbishop Henjō; he took holy orders and lived at Urin'in and other temples. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.

The first line, "tears of blood," names the crimson tears said to be shed when grief reaches its height.
The second line, "fall and rush," uses tagitsu, meaning water flowing violently, closing in the attributive form after the particle zo. The tears turn into a torrent in this hyperbole, and the poem breaks after the second line.
The third line, "the White River," is the name of the burial place. It draws on the meaning of the character for "white" to set it against the red of the tears of blood.
The fourth line, "only until your age," means "only during the time you lived," limiting the river's name to Yoshifusa's lifetime.
The last line, "was but a name," closes in the realis form kere after koso. Keri expresses sudden realization, lamenting that the name has now lost its substance.
Author: Sosei
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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