Kagaribi no tokoro sadamezu mietsuru wa nagaretsutsu nomi takeba narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

篝火の所定めず見えつるは
流れつつのみたけばなりけり

Roma-ji: Kagaribi no tokoro sadamezu mietsuru wa nagaretsutsu nomi takeba narikeri
English Translation: The flares that appeared
never fixed in any place,
drifting here and there—
I see now they were burning
only while flowing downstream.
Meaning: The flares that seemed never to stay in one place were, I now see, being burned on boats that kept drifting downstream.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 388

Headnote: "Tsutsumi no take (Tsutsumi Peak)"
The poet realizes that the flares that seemed never to stay in one place were being burned on boats drifting down the river. Singing of fires moving over the water's surface, the poem hides the name "tsutsumi no take" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "tsutsu nomi take" from the fourth to the final line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
Ki no Suketoki was an official of the Heian period, and little is known of his life.

First line, "kagaribi no," means "the flares." It echoes the fishing fires burning apart in the offing in 358 of this book, through a scene of fire on the water.
Second line, "tokoro sadamezu," means "never fixed in place."
Third line, "mietsuru wa," means "that appeared so," with "tsuru" the attributive of the perfective auxiliary "tsu."
Fourth line, "nagaretsutsu nomi," means "only while drifting." With "take" at the start of the final line, it hides the name "tsutsumi no take."
Final line, "takeba narikeri," means "it was because they were burned so," with "keri" expressing realization.
Author: Ki no Suketoki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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