Mezurashi ya mukashi nagara no yama no i wa shizumeru kage zo kuchihatenikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

めづらしや昔ながらの山の井は
沈める影ぞ朽ち果てにける

Roma-ji: Mezurashi ya mukashi nagara no yama no i wa shizumeru kage zo kuchihatenikeru
English Translation: How long it has been!
Nagara's mountain spring
is just as it was,
but the face sunk in its depths
has withered utterly away
Meaning: How rare a sight after so long! The mountain spring of Nagara is just as it was of old, but the reflection sunk in its waters has utterly decayed.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1135

Headnote: "When I was young I often went to worship at Shiga, but in old age I had not gone; going there again."
The poet says that the mountain spring of Nagara, seen again after so long, is as it was, but his reflection in it has utterly decayed. Contrasting the unchanging spring with his own body changed by age, he feels the weight of the years on a long-delayed pilgrimage.
According to the headnote, he often went to worship at the Shiga temple when young but had not gone in old age, and composed this on going there again after a long time. The mountain spring on the Shiga mountain crossing has been a famous poetic subject since Ki no Tsurayuki's Kokinshu poem "Musubu te no shizuku ni nigoru yama no i no."
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Mezurashi ya," means "how rare it is," with "ya" exclamatory. The poem pauses here.
The second line, "mukashi nagara no," means "just as of old," with "nagara" joining the name of Mount Nagara at Shiga.
The third line, "yama no i wa," means "the mountain spring," a pool where mountain water gathers. "Yama no i no mizu" also appears in 1165 of this book.
The fourth line, "shizumeru kage zo," means "the reflection sunk in it," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "keru" in the last line. It is set against the spring that remains unchanged.
The last line, "kuchihatenikeru," means "has utterly decayed," closing the "zo" of the fourth line. He laments the decline of his aged self.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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