Yamazato no kakehi no mizu no kōreru wa oto kiku yori mo sabishikarikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山里のかけひの水の凍れるは
音聞くよりも寂しかりけり

Roma-ji: Yamazato no kakehi no mizu no kōreru wa oto kiku yori mo sabishikarikeri
English Translation: In the mountain village,
the water in the bamboo pipe
frozen to stillness
is lonelier still than
hearing the sound of its flow
Meaning: The frozen water of the bamboo pipe in your mountain village is lonelier still than hearing the sound of its flowing.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1103

Headnote: "Sent when the First-Rank Princess Satoko, who was living at Ninnaji in winter, sent ice from her bamboo water pipe to the Third Prince"
When the First-Rank Princess Satoko was living at Ninnaji in winter, she sent ice from her bamboo water pipe to the Third Prince, and he sent this poem in return. The frozen water of the pipe in the mountain village is lonelier than hearing its sound, he says. The sound of water flowing from a pipe in a mountain village is lonely enough, but when even that water freezes and falls silent it is lonelier still, and he imagines the loneliness of his elder sister's winter in the mountain village.
The author, "Prince Sukehito," was the third son of Emperor Go-Sanjō. He was a younger brother of Emperor Shirakawa and excelled in poetry. Princess Satoko was the first daughter of Emperor Go-Sanjō and Prince Sukehito's elder sister.
The next poem, 1104, is Princess Satoko's reply to this one. It also shares the first line "yamazato no" with 1092 of this book.

First line, "yamazato no": "of the mountain village" where Ninnaji stands. It is the same first line as the next poem, 1104, and 1092 of this book.
Second line, "kakehi no mizu no": "the water of the pipe," a conduit of joined bamboo or wood. It is the same phrase as "kakehi no mizu no" in the fourth line of the next poem, 1104.
Third line, "kōreru wa": "ru" is the attributive of the continuative "ri," "its being frozen."
Fourth line, "oto kiku yori mo": "than hearing the sound of the water," describing a stillness in which even the sound of flowing has ceased.
Fifth line, "sabishikarikeri": "keri" is exclamatory. It is taken up by "sabishiki yado no" in the second line of the next poem, 1104.
Author: Prince Sukehito
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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