Takitsuse no naka ni tama tsumu shiranami wa nagaruru mizu o o ni zo nukikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

滝つ瀬の中にたまつむしら波は
流るる水を緒にぞ貫きける

Roma-ji: Takitsuse no naka ni tama tsumu shiranami wa nagaruru mizu o o ni zo nukikeru
English Translation: In the rushing rapids
the white waves gathering
their beads of spray
are stringing the flowing water
as a cord to thread them through.
Meaning: The white waves that gather beads of spray amid the rushing rapids are stringing them on the flowing water as on a cord.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 369

Headnote: "Matsumushi (pine cricket)"
The poet says that the white waves heaping up bead-like spray amid the rushing rapids are stringing those beads on the flowing water as on a cord. In this conceit likening spray to beads and the flowing water to the cord that threads them, the poem hides the name "matsumushi" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "tama tsumu shi" from the second to the third line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
Tadamine, that is, Mibu no Tadamine, was one of the compilers of the Kokinshū and the father of Mibu no Tadami, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "takitsuse no," means "of the rushing rapids."
Second line, "naka ni tama tsumu," means "gathering beads within," likening the spray to beads. With "shi" at the start of the third line, it hides the name "matsumushi."
Third line, "shiranami wa," means "the white waves." 367 of this book likened dew to jewels, so the conceit of beads continues.
Fourth line, "nagaruru mizu o," means "the flowing water."
Final line, "o ni zo nukikeru," means "they thread them as on a cord," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "keru."
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Shui Wakashu
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