Mizu no omo no fukaku asaku mo miyuru kana momiji no iro ya fuchise naruran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水の面の深く浅くも見ゆるかな
紅葉の色や淵瀬なるらん

Roma-ji: Mizu no omo no fukaku asaku mo miyuru kana momiji no iro ya fuchise naruran
English Translation: Upon the water's face
there are depths and shallows seen,
how strange it appears;
is it the colors of the leaves
that make the pools and rapids?
Meaning: How the surface of the water looks both deep and shallow; is it the colors of the autumn leaves that form its deep pools and shallow rapids?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1132

Headnote: "For a screen of the High Priestess of Kamo"
The poet wonders whether the water looks both deep and shallow because the deep and pale colors of the floating autumn leaves appear as deep pools and shallow rapids. The headnote shows it was written for a screen of the High Priestess of Kamo. It likens the deep and pale shades of the autumn leaves to the deep pools and shallow rapids of a river.
The author, written as "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune, one of the compilers of the Kokinshū, who is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "mizu no omo no," means "the surface of the water," a hypermetric line of six syllables. It shares the same words with the first line of 1107 in this book, "mizu no omo ni."
Second line, "fukaku asaku mo," means "both deep and shallow," pairing depth against shallowness. It shares the device of pairing deep and pale shades with the fourth line of 1127 in this book, "kosa mo ususa mo."
Third line, "miyuru kana," means "how it appears," with "kana" a particle of exclamation. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "momiji no iro ya," means "the colors of the autumn leaves," with "ya" a questioning binding particle.
Final line, "fuchise naruran," means "do they make the pools and rapids," with "ran," the attributive form of the auxiliary of present conjecture, resolving the "ya" of the fourth line. It shares the deep pools with the fourth line of the preceding poem, 1131, "fuchi no midori mo."
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
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