Se o hayami taezu nagaruru mizu yori mo tsukisenu mono wa namida narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

瀬を早み絶えず流るる水よりも
尽きせぬものは涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Se o hayami taezu nagaruru mizu yori mo tsukisenu mono wa namida narikeri
English Translation: More than the water
that flows on and never stops
through the rushing rapids,
what is never at an end
is the tears that I shed.
Meaning: More endless than the water that flows on without ceasing through the swift rapids are the tears I shed.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 964

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that more endless than the water that flows on ceaselessly through swift rapids are my tears. Comparing them to the river's unbroken flow, it sings of tears surpassing even that, expressing a sorrow of love that never runs dry.

First line, "se o hayami," means "because the rapids are swift," with "o ... mi" expressing cause or reason. It opens in the same form as the first line of 963 in this book, "kaze o itami."
Second line, "taezu nagaruru," means "flowing without cease."
Third line, "mizu yori mo," means "more than the water," expressing comparison.
Fourth line, "tsukisenu mono wa," means "that which never runs out."
Final line, "namida narikeri," means "it is my tears," with "keri" expressing the exclamation of discovery. Following "namida no kawa" in 962 of this book, it compares tears with flowing water.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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