Nani to naku kumu tabi ni sumu kokoro kana iwai no mizu ni kage utsushitsutsu

何となく汲むたびに澄む心かな
岩井の水に影映しつつ

Roma-ji: Nani to naku kumu tabi ni sumu kokoro kana iwai no mizu ni kage utsushitsutsu
English Translation: For no reason, still,
each time I draw it my heart
becomes clear again,
in the spring among the rocks
as I see my form reflected.
Meaning: Somehow, each time I draw it, my heart grows clear, as I see my reflection in the water of the spring among the rocks.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 943

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Each time I draw water from the spring among the rocks and see my reflection in it, my heart somehow grows clear, the poet says, laying clear water over a clear heart to express the purity of mountain life.
The fifth line is the same as that of 863 on the water of Kamei at Tennōji, so a poem of reflection in holy water and one of reflection in a mountain spring echo each other.

First line, “nani to naku”: for no particular reason.
Second line, “kumu tabi ni sumu”: clearing each time I draw it, the water and the heart growing clear together.
Third line, “kokoro kana”: kana is exclamatory; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “iwai no mizu ni”: iwai is a spring welling among rocks.
Fifth line, “kage utsushitsutsu”: reflecting my form, inverted to follow the third line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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