Kano kawa no mukahagi sugite fukakaraba watarade tada ni kaeru bakari zo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かのかはのむかはぎ過ぎて深からば
渡らでただに帰るばかりぞ

Roma-ji: Kano kawa no mukahagi sugite fukakaraba watarade tada ni kaeru bakari zo
English Translation: If that river there
rises deeper than my shins
as I step inside,
without crossing to the far bank
I will simply turn back home.
Meaning: If that river is deeper than my shins, I will not cross but simply turn back home.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 426

Headnote: "Kano kawa no mukabaki (deerskin leg covers)"
The poet says that if that river is deeper than his shins, he will simply turn back without crossing. Singing of an easygoing heart that turns back rather than force its way, the poem hides the name "kano kawa no mukabaki" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "kano kawa no mukahagi" from the first to the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.

First line, "kano kawa no," means "of that river."
Second line, "mukahagi sugite," means "rising above the shins," and together with the first line hides the name "kano kawa no mukabaki." Following the leopard skin of the preceding poem, the name of an animal skin is sung of.
Third line, "fukakaraba," means "if it is deep," the irrealis form with "ba" expressing a supposition.
Fourth line, "watarade tada ni," means "without crossing, simply," with "de" a negative conjunctive particle.
Final line, "kaeru bakari zo," means "I will just go back," with "zo" a sentence-final particle of emphasis.
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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