夕されば玉ゐる数も見えねども
関の小川の音ぞ涼しき
関の小川の音ぞ涼しき
- Roma-ji
-
Yū sareba tama iru kazu mo mienedomo seki no ogawa no oto zo suzushiki
- English Translation
-
When evening comes,
I can no longer count
the beads of spray,
but the stream beside the barrier
sounds so cool as it flows by
- Meaning
- When evening comes I can no longer see the beads of spray on the water, yet the stream by the barrier sounds so cool.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Summer Poems 211
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
When dusk falls, it grows too dark to count the beads of spray rising on the stream, yet the sound of the little stream by the barrier is still cool to the ear. Contrasting beads of water that can no longer be seen with a sound that can still be heard, the poem catches a coolness that shifts from eye to ear.
The author, "Fujiwara no Michitsune," was the son of Fujiwara no Akitsuna. He served as Governor of Izumi and rose to Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade. Active in the poetry circle of Fujiwara no Tadamichi's house, he is said to have introduced Shunzei to Mototoshi.
First line, "yū sareba": "saru" means a time coming on: "when evening comes."
Second line, "tama iru kazu mo": "tama" are beads of spray on the current, and "iru" means to rest or linger.
Third line, "mienedomo": "ne" is the realized form of the negative "zu" and "domo" concessive: "though they cannot be seen" in the dark.
Fourth line, "seki no ogawa no": "of the little stream by the barrier." Following the spring trickling from the rocks in the preceding poem, 210, it again speaks of the sound of water.
Fifth line, "oto zo suzushiki": "zo" closes with the attributive "suzushiki." Like "oto saete" in the preceding poem, 210, it finds coolness in the sound of water.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Michitsune
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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