Inishie no nonaka no shimizu miru kara ni sashikumu mono wa namida narikeri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへの野中の清水見るからに
さしくむものは涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Inishie no nonaka no shimizu miru kara ni sashikumu mono wa namida narikeri
English Translation: The clear spring in the moor,
the same as in days gone by—
no sooner seen
than what wells up to be drawn
is nothing else but my tears
Meaning: As soon as I saw it, like the clear spring in the moor from days of old, what welled up within me to be drawn was nothing but my tears.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 813

Headnote: "Sent when she found a letter from someone she had lived with and parted from against her will, saying that even after months and years they would meet again."
The poet says that as soon as she saw the clear spring of the moor from days gone by, what welled up was tears. Likening the letter from someone she once lived with to the spring in the moor, she sings of tears that overflow as she recalls the feelings of the past.
According to the headnote, she had parted unwillingly from someone she lived with, and on finding a letter that said they would meet again even after years, she sent this poem. It draws on an anonymous poem in the Miscellaneous section of the Kokin Wakashū, "inishie no nonaka no shimizu nurukeredo moto no kokoro o shiru hito zo kumu," answering that as one who knows the old heart, she draws only tears.
In this book the next poem, 814, and 825 also close with "namida narikeri," sharing the same last line.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," indicating that the poem is anonymous.

The first line, "Inishie no," means "of olden days," borrowing the opening line of the Kokin Wakashū poem.
The second line, "nonaka no shimizu," is a spring regarded as a symbol of old acquaintance and one's former heart, here standing for the old letter.
The third line, "miru kara ni," means "as soon as I see it," with "kara ni" marking something that follows immediately.
The fourth line, "sashikumu mono wa," means "what I draw," joining drawing water from the spring with "sashigumu," tears welling up.
The last line, "namida narikeri," means "was my tears," with "keri" expressing sudden realization. The next poem, 814, closes with the same line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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