Tomokakumo iihanatare yo ikemizu no fukasa asasa o tare ka shirubeki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ともかくも言ひ放たれよ池水の
深さ浅さを誰か知るべき

Roma-ji: Tomokakumo iihanatare yo ikemizu no fukasa asasa o tare ka shirubeki
English Translation: One way or the other,
speak it out, plain and clear;
of the pond's water,
how deep it is or shallow,
who could ever really know?
Meaning: One way or another, please say it plainly. Who could ever tell from outside how deep or shallow the water of a pond is?
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1233

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks the other to say it plainly one way or another, for who can tell from outside how deep or shallow the water of a pond is? As with a pond whose bottom cannot be seen, the depth of the other's heart cannot be known from outside, so the poet presses for a clear word on whether there is love or not. Following the "deeps and shallows" of the preceding poem, 1232, it measures a heart by the depth of water.

First line, "tomokakumo," means "one way or the other."
Second line, "iihanatare yo," means "please say it plainly," with "re" the imperative of the honorific "ru" and "yo" a call. The poem breaks after this second line, and the lower verse gives the reason.
Third line, "ikemizu no," means "of the pond's water," a figure for the other's heart, whose bottom cannot be seen.
Fourth line, "fukasa asasa o," means "its depth and shallowness," the depth of the other's feeling. It answers the fourth line of the preceding poem, 1232, "hito no fuchise o," in measuring a heart by the depth of water.
Final line, "tare ka shirubeki," means "who could know," with the binding particle "ka" a rhetorical question resolved by "beki," the attributive form of the auxiliary of possibility "beshi."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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