Mukashi yori nadakaki yado no koto no ha wa kono moto ni koso ochitsumoru tee - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

昔より名高き宿の言の葉は
このもとにこそ落ち積もるてへ

Roma-ji: Mukashi yori nadakaki yado no koto no ha wa kono moto ni koso ochitsumoru tee
English Translation: From the days of old
the words of that famous house
like leaves from the tree,
in this book, beneath its boughs,
lie heaped up, so it is said.
Meaning: The leaves of words from that house famed since days of old, they say, have fallen and piled up in this very book, as leaves pile up beneath a tree.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1142

Headnote: "Reply"
The emperor says that the leaves of words from a house famed since days of old are said to have fallen and piled up in this very book, as leaves pile up beneath a tree. Replying to the preceding poem, 1141, in which Nakatsukasa modestly said that few remained, he praises the collection as gathering in full the poems of Ise's famous house. Joining "ko no moto," beneath the tree, and "kono moto," this book, in "kono moto," he takes up and answers the image of leaves in the preceding poem.
The author, written as "Tenryaku gyosei, the composition of the Tenryaku emperor," is Emperor Murakami, a son of Emperor Daigo, whose reign was praised as the Tenryaku era of good rule. A lover of poetry, he set up a poetry bureau in the Pear Chamber and ordered the compiling of the Gosenshū.

First line, "mukashi yori," means "since days of old."
Second line, "nadakaki yado no," means "of the famous house," referring to the house of Ise, famed as a poet. It takes up the second line of the preceding poem, 1141, "furinishi yado no."
Third line, "koto no ha wa," means "the leaves of words," that is, poems, sharing the same words with the third line of the preceding poem, 1141.
Fourth line, "kono moto ni koso," turns on the pivot word "kono moto," joining "ko no moto," beneath the tree, and "kono moto," this book, the collection presented. The binding particle "koso" is answered by the perfective form "tee" in the final line.
Final line, "ochitsumoru tee," means "have fallen and piled up, so it is said," with "tee" the perfective form of "chō," a contraction of "to iu." Against the final line of the preceding poem, "tomarazarikeri," it answers that the leaves pile up.
Author: Emperor Murakami
Source: Shui Wakashu
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