Otowagawa sekiirete otosu takitsuse ni hito no kokoro no mie mo suru kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

音羽川せき入れて落とす滝つ瀬に
人の心の見えもするかな

Roma-ji: Otowagawa sekiirete otosu takitsuse ni hito no kokoro no mie mo suru kana
English Translation: In the rushing falls
where the Otowa River,
dammed and led within, drops,
there one can see clearly
the heart of the one who made them.
Meaning: In the rushing falls where the Otowa River has been dammed and led in to tumble down, one can see the heart of the one who made them.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 445

Headnote: "Written on a rock by the waterfall at the mountain villa of the Provisional Middle Counselor Atsutada at Nishisakamoto"
The poet says that in the rushing waterfall made by damming the Otowa River and letting it fall, one can see the heart of the person who made it. The headnote shows she wrote it on a rock by the waterfall at Fujiwara no Atsutada's mountain villa at Nishisakamoto. She praises the refined taste of the master who drew in the river's water to make a waterfall, seeing it in the flow of the falls. From here through 449 in this book, poems on waterfalls continue, and the next poem, 446, was composed at the same villa by the poet's daughter, Nakatsukasa.
The author, Ise, was a woman poet of the early to mid Heian period and a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugikage. She served Onshi, empress of Emperor Uda, and became the mother of Nakatsukasa. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
Atsutada was a son of Fujiwara no Tokihira and one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Nishisakamoto refers to the western foot of Mount Hiei, and the Otowa River flows there.

First line, "Otowagawa," is the name of a river flowing at the western foot of Mount Hiei.
Second line, "sekiirete otosu," means "damming it, leading it in and letting it fall," a line of eight syllables, one too many. It describes a waterfall made by human hands.
Third line, "takitsuse ni," means "in the rushing falls."
Fourth line, "hito no kokoro no," means "the heart of the person," pointing to the taste of the master, Atsutada.
Final line, "mie mo suru kana," means "how it can be seen," with "kana" an exclamatory particle. The conceit is seeing the master's heart in the clear flow of the falls.
Author: Ise
Source: Shui Wakashu
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