classic waka stream

葦鴨のすだく入り江の月影は
氷ぞ波の数に砕くる
Roma-ji

Ashigamo no sudaku irie no tsukikage wa kōri zo nami no kazu ni kudakuru

English Translation
Where the reed ducks throng
in the inlet, the moonlight
shining on the water,
like ice, is shattered into
as many shards as there are waves
Meaning
In the inlet where the reed ducks gather, the moonlight on the water shatters like ice into as many pieces as there are waves.
Commentary
Book Six Winter Poems 437

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Waterfowl Before the Moon'"
Composed on the topic of waterfowl before the moon. In the inlet where the reed ducks gather, the poet says, the moonlight on the water shatters like ice into as many pieces as there are waves. Likening the clear, cold light of the winter moon to ice, he depicts the reflected moon broken into many pieces by the waves the ducks stir up as they swim.
The author, "Former Captain of the Left Gate Guards Kinmitsu," is Fujiwara no Kinmitsu, son of Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Suenari, who served as Provisional Middle Counselor and Captain of the Left Gate Guards.
The nine poems from 429 to 437 are poems on waterfowl. Mandarin ducks, wild ducks and other waterfowl were counted among the sights of the winter waterside. This poem closes the group, bringing together waterfowl, moon and ice, and leads into the poems on the moon and ice that begin with the next poem, 438.

First line, "ashigamo no": "ashigamo" are ducks of the reedy waterside, the same word as in 433 of this book.
Second line, "sudaku irie no": "sudaku" is to gather in a throng.
Third line, "tsukikage wa": "tsukikage" is moonlight, here the moon reflected on the water.
Fourth line, "kōri zo nami no": "kōri," ice, likens the cold, clear moonlight to ice. The emphatic "zo" closes with the attributive "kudakuru" in the last line.
Fifth line, "kazu ni kudakuru": "shattered into as many pieces as the waves," the moonlight broken by the waves the ducks raise. 443 and 444 of this book also use the word "kudaku."
Author
Fujiwara no Kinmitsu
Source
Senzai Wakashu
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