Mizutori no shita yasukaranu omoi ni wa atari no mizu mo kōrazarikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水鳥のしたやすからぬおもひには
あたりの水も凍らざりけり

Roma-ji: Mizutori no shita yasukaranu omoi ni wa atari no mizu mo kōrazarikeri
English Translation: Like the water bird,
restless far beneath the surface,
burning with longing—
so hot that even the water
round about it does not freeze.
Meaning: Like a water bird that never rests beneath the surface, my hidden longing burns so fiercely that even the water around it does not freeze.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 227

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem overlays the way a water bird keeps its feet moving restlessly beneath the surface with a heart secretly troubled, and says that the heat of that burning thought keeps even the surrounding water from freezing. Through a winter waterside scene, it expresses with exaggeration a longing that burns within the breast.

First line, "mizutori no," means "of the water bird," leading to "shita" in the second line. Following the mandarin ducks of the preceding poem, the poems on water birds continue.
Second line, "shita yasukaranu," plays on not resting one's feet beneath the surface and not being at peace within one's heart.
Third line, "omoi ni wa," plays on "hi" (fire) within "omoi" (longing), meaning "by the fire of longing."
Fourth line, "atari no mizu mo," means "even the water around it."
Final line, "kōrazarikeri," means "does not freeze, I find," with "keri" expressing the exclamation of realization. Through its association with fire, the water does not freeze. It pairs with 233 in this book, which calls the ice of winter nights something that belongs to the sleeve, contrasting unfrozen water with a frozen sleeve.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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