Samidare wa yamada no aze no takimakura kazu o kasanete otsuru narikeri

五月雨は山田の畦の滝枕
数を重ねて落つるなりけり

Roma-ji: Samidare wa yamada no aze no takimakura kazu o kasanete otsuru narikeri
English Translation: In the summer rain,
from the ridges of the hill fields
pillows of cascades,
one laid upon another,
tumble downward, as I see.
Meaning: In the early summer rains, the water spilling over the ridges of the terraced mountain fields falls in little cascades, one stacked upon another all the way down.
Commentary: Summer Poems 227

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 thirteenth of the fifteen poems. The rains have flooded the terraced fields in the hills, and the water spilling from ridge to ridge becomes many small cascades falling one upon another. The stepped landscape of the mountain fields is caught in the image of cascade pillows laid one on another.
Where 213 of this book worried over fields whose ridges were washed over by the rains, this poem sees the water falling over the ridges as many little waterfalls, turning to the charm of the scene.

First line, “samidare wa”: in the season of the early summer rains.
Second line, “yamada no aze no”: yamada are fields opened in the hills, suggesting terraces stacked one above another.
Third line, “takimakura”: the stones on which a waterfall drops, or the steps over which water falls; the water dropping from the ridges is likened to little waterfalls.
Fourth line, “kazu o kasanete”: piling up one after another, showing the ridges of the fields in steps.
Fifth line, “otsuru narikeri”: narikeri expresses realization, closing as the poet takes in the scene of falling water.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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