滝つ瀬のはやからぬをぞ恨みつる
見ずともおとに聞かんと思へば
見ずともおとに聞かんと思へば
- Roma-ji
-
Takitsuse no hayakaranu o zo uramitsuru mizu tomo oto ni kikan to omoeba
- English Translation
-
That the rapids' flow
is not swift, it is for this
that I bore a grudge—
unseen, still I would hear
at least the sound of them
- Meaning
- I bore a grudge that the rapids did not run swift—for even if I cannot see, I would at least hear their sound, hear word of you.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1217
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says he resented the rapids for not running swift, since even unseen he would hear their sound. Wishing at least to hear rumors of one he cannot meet, he entrusts the wish to the roar of rushing water.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known.
The first line, "Takitsuse no," means "of the rushing rapids." Poems 1235 and 1239 of this book begin with the same first line.
The second line, "hayakaranu o zo," means "that they are not swift," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle.
The third line, "uramitsuru," means "I bore a grudge," closing the "zo" with the attributive "tsuru." The poem pauses here, and the lower verse is inverted.
The fourth line, "mizu tomo oto ni," is a pivot word on "oto," both the sound of the rapids and rumor: though unseen, at least by report.
The last line, "kikan to omoeba," means "since I would hear it," giving, through inversion, the reason for the grudge.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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