Hito o toku Akutagawa chō Tsu no kuni no Naniwa tagawanu mono ni zo arikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人をとくあくた河てふ津の国の
なにはたがはぬものにぞありける

Roma-ji: Hito o toku Akutagawa chō Tsu no kuni no Naniwa tagawanu mono ni zo arikeru
English Translation: In the land of Tsu,
where they say flows the River
that soon tires of folk,
you have proven, as at Naniwa,
no different from your name.
Meaning: Just like the Akuta River in the land of Tsu, said to tire quickly of people, you have proven true to your name—as the name Naniwa says.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 977

Headnote: "In the Engi era, Prince Motoyoshi used to visit a woman who served in the household of the Jōkyōden Consort; after he stopped coming, she wrote and sent this"
The poem says: true to the name of Naniwa in the land of Tsu, where flows the Akutagawa that soon tires of people, you were a man who lived up to your reputation. Through wordplay stringing together place-names of Settsu Province, it mocks the fickleness of a man who has stopped visiting.
According to the headnote, it was sent in the Engi era of Emperor Daigo, after Prince Motoyoshi had stopped visiting a woman who served the Jōkyōden Consort. Prince Motoyoshi was a son of Emperor Yōzei, famed as a great lover. The poem reproaches him for tiring of her quickly, just as his reputation suggested.
The author, "Jōkyōden no Chūnagon", was a lady-in-waiting to Minamoto no Kazuko, the Jōkyōden Consort of Emperor Daigo; her dates are unknown.

First line, "hito o toku," means "soon, of people."
Second line, "Akutagawa chō," means "called the Akutagawa," with "Akutagawa" a pivot word joining the Akuta River of Settsu Province and "aku," to tire of, sounding the sense of quickly tiring of people. It takes up "akutabi" and "aku" from the preceding poem, 976.
Third line, "Tsu no kuni no," means "of the land of Tsu," that is, Settsu Province.
Fourth line, "Naniwa tagawanu," means "not belying your name," with "Naniwa" a pivot word joining Naniwa in Settsu and "na ni wa," in name. It draws on the prince's fame as a great lover.
Final line, "mono ni zo arikeru," means "so it turns out you were," concluding with "keru," the attributive of the exclamatory "keri," in answer to the binding particle "zo." It is the same as the final line of 942 in this book, "mono ni zo arikeru."
Author: Shōkyōden no Chūnagon
Source: Shui Wakashu
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