Hito shirenu namida no kawa no minakami ya Iwade no yama no tani no shitamizu - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人知れぬ涙の川の水上や
いはでの山の谷の下水

Roma-ji: Hito shirenu namida no kawa no minakami ya Iwade no yama no tani no shitamizu
English Translation: The source of the river
of the tears that no one knows:
might it be the stream
hidden in the valley of
the Mountain of Iwade?
Meaning: The source of this river of tears that no one knows of: might it be the hidden stream in the valley of Mount Iwade, the mountain of silence?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 667

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the topic 'Hidden Love' when a poetry contest was held"
Composed on the topic "Hidden love" at the same poetry contest as the preceding poem. Is the source of the river of tears that no one knows, he asks, the hidden stream in the valley of Mount Iwade? Likening his overflowing tears to a river, he seeks its source in the unseen stream of a valley on Mount Iwade, the mountain whose name means unspoken love, and so shows the depth of a hidden love.
The author, "the monk Kenshō," was the adopted son of Fujiwara no Akisuke, Master of the Capital Office of the Left. He is known as a scholar of poetry of the Rokujō Fujiwara house and wrote poetic treatises such as the Shūchūshō.
The poem seems to join "Iwade no yama" in 651 and "yama no shitamizu" in 654 of this book. It also shares with "namidagawa" in 670 the likening of tears to a river.

First line, "hito shirenu": "unknown to anyone." It is the same as the first line of 661.
Second line, "namida no kawa no": "namida no kawa" likens abundant tears to a river. It is the same conceit as "namidagawa" in the first line of 670.
Third line, "minakami ya": "minakami" is the source of a river, and "ya" an interrogative binding particle. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "Iwade no yama no": "iwade" combines Mount Iwade, a famed place in Michinoku, and "iwade," "without speaking." It is the same famed place as "Iwade no yama ni" in the second line of 651.
Fifth line, "tani no shitamizu": water running unseen in the shade of a valley, ending on a noun. It shares the image with "yama no shitamizu" in the second line of 654.
Author: Kenshō
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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