流れ来る滝の白糸絶えずして
いくらの玉の緒とかなるらん
いくらの玉の緒とかなるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Nagarekuru taki no shiraito taezu shite ikura no tama no o to ka naru ran
- English Translation
-
Flowing, falling down,
the white threads of the waterfall
never cease to run—
for how many shining beads
might they serve as the string?
- Meaning
- The white threads of the falling waterfall never break off. For how many beads, I wonder, will they serve as the cord?
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 447
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet wonders for how many beads the white threads of the waterfall, flowing down without end, will serve as the cord. Seeing the falls as white thread and the scattering spray as beads, he expresses the abundance of the inexhaustible waters. Taking up the image of "the threads of the falls" from the preceding poem, 446, and sharing the first line "nagarekuru" with the next poem, 448, it layers the conceit of thread and beads.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "nagarekuru," means "flowing down," the same line as the first line of the next poem.
Second line, "taki no shiraito," means "the white threads of the falls," seeing the white cascade as white thread.
Third line, "taezu shite," means "without breaking off," with "tae" an associated word for thread. It shares the idea of "taesenu" in the second line of the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "ikura no tama no," means "of how many beads," the beads being the spray of the falls.
Final line, "o to ka naru ran," means "will they become the cord," with "ka" a questioning particle resolved by the attributive "ran." The thread is reimagined as the cord threading the beads.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kimi ga kuru yado ni taesenu taki no ito haete mimahoshiki mono ni zo arikeru
- Next Poem
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Nagarekuru taki no ito koso yowakarashi nukedo midarete otsuru shiratama