Oto ni kiku Tsuzumi no taki o uchimireba tada yamakawa no naru ni zo arikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

音に聞く鼓の滝をうち見れば
ただ山河の鳴るにぞありける

Roma-ji: Oto ni kiku Tsuzumi no taki o uchimireba tada yamakawa no naru ni zo arikeru
English Translation: The famous Drum Falls
of which I have heard so much,
when I strike a look,
I find it is nothing but
a mountain stream sounding on.
Meaning: When I took a look at the Drum Falls, so famed by report, I found it was merely a mountain stream sounding away.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 556

Headnote: "When Kiyohara no Motosuke was Governor of Higo and went to see a place in that province called the Drum Falls, a strange-looking monk composed this"
The poet says that when he looked at the Drum Falls, of which he had heard so much, it was merely a mountain stream making noise. The headnote shows that when Kiyohara no Motosuke was Governor of Higo and went to see the place called the Drum Falls in that province, an odd-looking monk composed this poem. Stringing together words associated with the drum, "sound," "strike" and "beat," it lightly deflates the famous falls as nothing more than the sound of a mountain stream. Following the preceding poem, 555, it sings of a waterfall, and like 547 to 549 it also looks at the gap between name and reality.

First line, "oto ni kiku," means "famed by report," with "oto," sound, an associated word of the drum. It shares the same line with the first line of the next poem, 557, "oto ni kiku."
Second line, "Tsuzumi no taki o," means "the Drum Falls" of Higo Province.
Third line, "uchimireba," means "when I took a look," with "uchi" a prefix and also a pivot word on "striking" a drum.
Fourth line, "tada yamakawa no," means "merely a mountain stream," setting an ordinary stream against the famous falls.
Final line, "naru ni zo arikeru," means "it was only sounding," with "naru" an associated word of the drum. The binding particle "zo" is resolved by "keru," the attributive form of the past auxiliary "keri."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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