Ochitagitsu Yasoujigawa no hayaki se ni iwa kosu nami wa chiyo no kazu kamo - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

落ちたぎつ八十宇治川の早き瀬に
岩越す波は千代の数かも

Roma-ji: Ochitagitsu Yasoujigawa no hayaki se ni iwa kosu nami wa chiyo no kazu kamo
English Translation: In the rapid shoals
of the Yaso Uji River
where the waters plunge,
the waves that leap over rocks:
do they count your thousand ages?
Meaning: In the swift shoals of the Uji River, where the waters plunge and churn, the waves that leap over the rocks: might they number the thousand ages of your life?
Commentary: Book Ten Poems of Celebration 615

Headnote: "Composed on the theme of celebration at the poetry contest held at the Kayanoin, the residence of the Kyōgoku Former Chancellor"
Composed on the theme of celebration at a poetry contest held at the Kayanoin, the residence of the Kyōgoku Former Chancellor, Fujiwara no Morozane. The waves leaping over the rocks in the swift shoals of the Uji River, where the waters plunge and churn, he asks, might they be the number of a thousand ages? Likening the countless waves that ceaselessly surge over the rocks to the uncountable years of a thousand ages, the poem celebrates the long life of the host. Uji was a place closely tied to the regent's house, where Morozane's father Yorimichi had built the Byōdōin. This contest was the Kayanoin Seven-Round Poetry Contest of 1094.
The author, "Minamoto no Toshiyori Ason," was the son of Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A central figure in the poetry circle of Emperor Horikawa, he compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū at the command of Retired Emperor Shirakawa. His personal collection is the Sanboku Kika Shū, and he has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The next poem, 616, is by Morozane himself; against the Uji River of this poem it sings of the Arisu River at the Kamo Priestess's palace, so that two poems of celebration through rivers stand side by side.

First line, "ochitagitsu": "tagitsu" means water churning violently, "plunging and churning."
Second line, "Yasoujigawa no": "Yaso Uji River" is an elegant name for the Uji River, drawing "Uji" from "yaso uji," "the eighty clans."
Third line, "hayaki se ni": "in the swift shoals."
Fourth line, "iwa kosu nami wa": "the waves that leap over the rocks," leading the endless number of waves on to the last line.
Fifth line, "chiyo no kazu kamo": "kamo" is a question tinged with wonder, "might they be the number of a thousand ages?"
Author: Minamoto no Toshiyori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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