Toshitsuki no yukue mo shiranu yamagatsu wa taki no oto ni ya haru o shiru ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年月の行方も知らぬ山がつは
滝の音にや春を知るらん

Roma-ji: Toshitsuki no yukue mo shiranu yamagatsu wa taki no oto ni ya haru o shiru ran
English Translation: Never knowing how
the months and the years go by,
the mountain folk, perhaps,
by the sound of the waterfall
come to know that spring is here.
Meaning: The mountain folk, who know nothing of how the months and years go by, must learn that spring has come from the sound of the waterfall.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1003

Headnote: "For a folding screen of the Kita no Miya"
The poet imagines that the mountain folk, who keep no calendar and know nothing of how the months and years pass, must learn of spring's arrival from the sound of the waterfall. The headnote shows it was written for a painting on a screen of the Kita no Miya. It sings of the scene in the painting, a life in the mountain village where spring is heard in the sound of a waterfall swollen with melting snow. Together with the next poem, 1004, it is a poem on a spring waterfall.
The author, Ukon, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenawa, Lesser Captain of the Right Inner Palace Guards, and a lady-in-waiting to Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Daigo. She is known for her poem "wasuraruru mi o ba omowazu" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "toshitsuki no," means "of the years and months."
Second line, "yukue mo shiranu," means "not knowing how they pass," speaking of a life untouched by the calendar.
Third line, "yamagatsu wa," means "the humble folk of the mountains."
Fourth line, "taki no oto ni ya," means "by the sound of the waterfall," with the binding particle "ya" expressing a question resolved by "ran" in the final line. It stands beside the second line of the next poem, 1004, "taki no shiraito," as a poem of a waterfall.
Final line, "haru o shiru ran," means "do they know spring," with "ran" the attributive form of the auxiliary of present conjecture.
Author: Ukon
Source: Shui Wakashu
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