Ike mo furi tsutsumi kuzurete mizu mo nashi mube Katsumata ni tori no izaran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

池もふりつつみ崩れて水もなし
むべ勝間田に鳥の居ざらん

Roma-ji: Ike mo furi tsutsumi kuzurete mizu mo nashi mube Katsumata ni tori no izaran
English Translation: The pond has grown old,
its embankment crumbled down,
and no water left;
no wonder that at Katsumata
not a bird is to be seen
Meaning: The pond has grown old, its embankment has crumbled, and no water is left. No wonder there are no birds at Katsumata.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1172

Headnote: "Furitsuzumi, the shaking drum"
This is a hidden-name poem, concealing the word "furitsutsumi" across "furi" in the first line and "tsutsumi" in the second. The pond has grown old, its bank crumbled and its water gone; no wonder no birds stay at Katsumata, she says. Looking at a pond gone to ruin and run dry, she agrees that it is only natural no birds are there.
The author, "Higo of the Nijō Grand Empress Dowager," was a lady-in-waiting who served Princess Reishi, the Nijō grand empress dowager, and a daughter of Fujiwara no Sadanari.
It is the fourth poem of the hidden-name series. The fifth line of the main text reads "tori no izaran," which does not match "tori mo izaramu" in the kana reading line; here the main text is followed.

First line, "ike mo furi": "furi" is the continuative of "furu," to grow old. From here into the next line lies hidden "furitsutsumi."
Second line, "tsutsumi kuzurete": "tsutsumi" is the embankment holding the pond's water, "has crumbled."
Third line, "mizu mo nashi": "no water either," and the poem pauses here. It repeats the "mo" of "ike mo" in the first line, piling up the signs of ruin.
Fourth line, "mube Katsumata ni": "mube" means "no wonder." Katsumata is the pond of Katsumata in Yamato, a poetic place for which the Man'yōshū has a joking poem about the pond having no lotuses.
Fifth line, "tori no izaran": "zara" is the irrealis of the negative "zu" and "n" a conjectural auxiliary. Answering "mube" in the fourth line, it accepts that it is only natural no birds are there.
Author: Nijō Taikōtaigōgū no Higo
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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