Iroiro no konoha nagaruru ōigawa shimo wa katsura no momiji to ya min - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いろいろの木の葉流るる大井川
下はかつらの紅葉とや見ん

Roma-ji: Iroiro no konoha nagaruru ōigawa shimo wa katsura no momiji to ya min
English Translation: Leaves of many hues
come flowing down the waters
of the Ōi River;
downstream, will they think them leaves
of the katsura at Katsura?
Meaning: Leaves of every color flow down the Ōi River; downstream at Katsura, will people take them for the leaves of their own katsura trees?
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 212

Headnote: "On seeing autumn leaves flowing down the Ōi River"
Watching leaves of many colors flow down the Ōi River, the poet imagines that the people of Katsura downstream will take the leaves that drift to them for those of the katsura trees of their own place. With "katsura" meaning both the place name and the name of a tree, the poem shows wit in linking the upper and lower reaches of the river. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing autumn leaves flowing down the Ōi River.
Mibu no Tadamine was one of the compilers of the Kokinshū and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. He was the father of Mibu no Tadami.

First line, "iroiro no," means "of many colors."
Second line, "konoha nagaruru," means "leaves flowing," taking up the poems on autumn leaves flowing on water from 194 of this book onward.
Third line, "ōigawa," is the river flowing at the foot of Mount Arashi in Yamashiro. Autumn leaves on the Ōi River are also sung of in 195, 197 and 200 of this book. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "shimo wa katsura no," is a pivot word in which "katsura" means both Katsura, the place downstream on the Ōi River, and the katsura tree. "Shimo" refers to the lower reaches.
Final line, "momiji to ya min," means "will they see them as autumn leaves," with the questioning particle "ya" resolved by "n," the attributive of the conjectural auxiliary. Through the contrast of upstream and downstream, the poem imagines where the flowing leaves will go.
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Shui Wakashu
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