Mizu nashi to kikite furinishi Katsumata no ike aratamuru samidare no koro

水なしと聞きてふりにし勝間田の
池改むる五月雨の頃

Roma-ji: Mizu nashi to kikite furinishi Katsumata no ike aratamuru samidare no koro
English Translation: Waterless, they said,
and so it grew old with time,
Katsumata's pond,
but now it's made new again
in this time of summer rains.
Meaning: The pond of Katsumata, long said to be waterless and grown old with neglect, is renewed and filled again in this season of early summer rain.
Commentary: Summer Poems 225

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When fifteen poems on the early summer rains were composed at a certain place, written on behalf of another"
This is the eleventh of the fifteen poems. The pond of Katsumata has long been known as a pond without water and has grown old in that name, but the rains fill even this pond and overturn its reputation.
The pond of Katsumata is a poetic place in Yamato, sung of as a pond with no water. As with 216 of this book, where the Minase River filled so that boats had to cross it, the idea is that a place famed for having no water is transformed by the rains.

First line, “mizu nashi to”: that it has no water, the pond's reputation.
Second line, “kikite furinishi”: furi is a pivot word joining furu, to grow old with time, and furu, for rain to fall; nishi combines perfective and past, it had grown old.
Third line, “Katsumata no”: the pond of Katsumata, a poetic place in Yamato.
Fourth line, “ike aratamuru”: renewing the pond by filling it with water, changing its waterless state.
Fifth line, “samidare no koro”: the poem ends on a noun, closing with the line shared by the group of rain poems.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Samidare no harenu hikazu no furu mama ni numa no makomo wa migakurenikeri
Next Poem: Samidare wa yukubeki michi no ate mo nashi ozasa ga hara mo uki ni nagarete