Ishibashiru mizu no shiratama kazu miete Kiyotakigawa ni sumeru tsukikage - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

石走る水の白玉数見えて
清滝川に澄める月影

Roma-ji: Ishibashiru mizu no shiratama kazu miete Kiyotakigawa ni sumeru tsukikage
English Translation: The white jewels of water
dashing over the rocks
can each be counted:
in the Kiyotaki River
the moonlight shines so clear
Meaning: The white droplets of water dashing over the rocks can be counted one by one, so clear is the moonlight shining on the Kiyotaki River.
Commentary: Book Four Autumn Poems I 284

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed by the Retired Emperor as a moon poem when he called for hundred-poem sequences"
Like the preceding poem, this was composed on "the moon" for the hundred-poem sequences called for by Retired Emperor Sutoku. The white jewels of spray from the Kiyotaki River dashing over the rocks can be seen so clearly that they could be counted one by one, and clear moonlight is reflected on the water. The brightness of the moon is shown through the detail of every drop of spray being visible, and the name of the "clear" river resonates with the clear moon.
The author, "Master of the Empress Dowager's Household Toshinari," is Fujiwara no Shunzei, son of Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Toshitada. He served as Master of the Empress Dowager's Household and rose to Senior Third Rank. He is the very compiler of the Senzai Wakashū, chosen at the command of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and a poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
This poem's last line, "sumeru tsukikage," is the same as that of the next poem, 285, and of 291 of this book, so poems on the moon shining clear over water are layered together.

First line, "ishibashiru": water rushing over rocks, a word also used as a pillow word for "taki," falls.
Second line, "mizu no shiratama": "the white jewels of the water," spray likened to white jewels.
Third line, "kazu miete": "seen so clearly they can be counted," showing the brightness of the moonlight.
Fourth line, "Kiyotakigawa ni": the Kiyotaki River in Yamashiro, a poetic place. The "kiyo," clear, of its name resonates with "sumeru" in the last line.
Fifth line, "sumeru tsukikage": ends on a noun, the clear moonlight. It is the same final line as the next poem, 285, and 291 of this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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