Na nomi shite nareru mo miezu Umezugawa iseki no mizu mo moreba narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

名のみして成れるも見えず梅津河
井堰の水も漏ればなりけり

Roma-ji: Na nomi shite nareru mo miezu Umezugawa iseki no mizu mo moreba narikeri
English Translation: Umezu's but a name,
no plums are seen ripening
on Umezu River;
it must be that like the water
of the weir, they too leak away.
Meaning: Umezu River, "Plum Ford," has the name alone, and no plums are seen ripening there; it must be that, like the water through the weir, they leak away.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 548

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that Umezu River bears "plum" in name only and no fruit is seen ripening, because the water of the weir leaks away. Taking up the "plum" in the place name Umezu, it explains the gap between a name with plums and no fruit to be seen by linking it to the water leaking through the weir. With the same first line as the preceding poem, 547, it is the second poem in the sequence on place names that are names only.

First line, "na nomi shite," means "in name only," the same line as the first line of the preceding poem, 547.
Second line, "nareru mo miezu," means "no fruit is seen ripening," with "ru" the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri" of continuing state.
Third line, "Umezugawa," is the river flowing past Umezu on the Katsura in Yamashiro Province, linked to "nareru" in the second line because it bears "plum" in its name.
Fourth line, "iseki no mizu mo," means "the water of the weir too," singing of the weir that dams the river.
Final line, "moreba narikeri," means "is because it leaks," with "ba" after the perfective form expressing cause and "keri" a sigh of realization.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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