Kokichirasu taki no shiratama hiroiokite yo no uki toki no namida ni zo karu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

こき散らす滝の白玉拾ひおきて
世の憂き時の涙にぞ借る

Roma-ji: Kokichirasu taki no shiratama hiroiokite yo no uki toki no namida ni zo karu
English Translation: The white jewels
the waterfall strips and scatters—
I'll gather them up
to borrow for my tears
when the world is hard to bear.
Meaning: I will gather up the white jewels the waterfall strips and scatters, and borrow them as tears for the times when the world is hard to bear.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 922

Headnote: "Composed at the Nunobiki Falls"
Composed at the Nunobiki Falls in Settsu. The spray is likened to white jewels stripped from a cord and scattered, and the poet would gather them to borrow as tears when the world grows hard. Beneath the lovely figure seeps a lament for living in a sorrowful world.
The author, "Ariwara no Yukihira Ason," was a son of Prince Abo and half-brother of Ariwara no Narihira. He rose to Middle Counselor and is also known for his confinement at Suma.
This poem also appears in Episode 87 of The Tales of Ise, in the scene where the brothers compose poems at the Nunobiki Falls.
The second line of the main text reads "taki no shiratama," which does not match "taki no shiraito" in the reading line. Here the main text is followed.

First line "kokichirasu" means stripping jewels from a cord and scattering them, expressing the violently flying spray.
Second line "taki no shiratama" likens the spray to white jewels. The next poem, 923, uses the same word, "white jewels," so the two stand together.
Third line "hiroiokite" means gathering and keeping them; the line is hypermetric.
Fourth line "yo no uki toki no" refers to times when the world seems painful.
Fifth line "namida ni zo karu" closes zo with the attributive karu: I will borrow the jewels as tears, overlaying jewels and tears.
Author: Ariwara no Yukihira
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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