Ōigawa iseki ni yodomu mizu no iro ni aki fukaku naru hodo zo shiraruru

大堰川井堰に淀む水の色に
秋深くなるほどぞ知らるる

Roma-ji: Ōigawa iseki ni yodomu mizu no iro ni aki fukaku naru hodo zo shiraruru
English Translation: In the Ōi River,
by the color of the water
pooling at the weir,
how far autumn has grown deep
comes of itself to be known.
Meaning: In the color of the water pooling at the weir on the Ōi River, I can see of itself how deep autumn has grown.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 484

Headnote: "Composed while in retreat at Hōrin Temple at the end of autumn"
The headnote tells us this was composed while the poet was in retreat at Hōrin Temple in Saga at the end of autumn, and four poems under the same headnote follow. In the color of the water pooling at the weir on the Ōi River, which flows past Hōrin Temple, reflecting the leaves and carrying those that have fallen into it, he can see of itself how deep autumn has grown. He reads the deepening of late autumn in the color of the river.
Where the autumn leaf poems before sang of leaves on mountains and moors, this one sees the depth of autumn in the color of river water that reflects the leaves and gathers them as they fall. Saga, where Hōrin Temple stands, was famous for autumn leaves, close to Mount Ogura and the Ōi River.

First line, “Ōigawa”: the river flowing at the foot of Arashiyama, west of the capital, famous for autumn leaves.
Second line, “iseki ni yodomu”: iseki is a weir built to draw water, where the water pools.
Third line, “mizu no iro ni”: a hypermetric line of six syllables, by the color of the water.
Fourth line, “aki fukaku naru”: autumn growing deep.
Fifth line, “hodo zo shiraruru”: ruru is the attributive of the spontaneous ru answering zo, the measure of autumn's depth comes to be known of itself.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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