Ashihiki no yamashitamizu wa yukikayoi koto no ne ni sae nagaru beranari - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

葦引の山下水は行き通ひ
琴の音にさへ流るべらなり

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yamashitamizu wa yukikayoi koto no ne ni sae nagaru beranari
English Translation: From the rugged hills
the water flowing under them
comes and goes, it seems,
even into the koto's notes
it runs on and on, it seems
Meaning: The water flowing beneath the mountain trees comes and goes, and seems to flow even into the notes of the koto.
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 168

Headnote: "On the same theme."
The poet says that the water flowing in the shade of the mountain comes and goes and seems to flow even into the notes of the koto. Where the preceding poem likened the koto to wind in the pines, this one likens it to running water, praising the purity of its sound.
According to the headnote, it treats the same theme as the preceding poem, listening to Fukayabu's koto on a summer night.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokin Wakashū and wrote its kana preface. He served as governor of Tosa among other posts, is known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "Ashihiki no," is a pillow word modifying "yama," mountain.
The second line, "yamashitamizu wa," means "the water flowing beneath the mountain trees," placing a stream below against the height of "mine no matsukaze" in the preceding poem.
The third line, "yukikayoi," means "coming and going," showing the water passing into the koto's sound.
In the fourth line, "sae" is an additive particle: "even into the koto's notes." The koto that the preceding poem, 167, named only in its headnote is here brought into the poem itself.
In the last line, "beranari" is a conjectural auxiliary: "it seems to flow." It was a word favored by Tsurayuki and his circle in the early Heian period.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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