Ima da ni mo kakari to iishi takitsuse no sono ori made wa mukashi narikemu

今だにもかかりと言ひし滝つ瀬の
その折までは昔なりけん

Roma-ji: Ima da ni mo kakari to iishi takitsuse no sono ori made wa mukashi narikemu
English Translation: "Even now, like this,"
so it was said of the falls
and their rushing stream—
until that time, I suppose,
it still kept its ancient form.
Meaning: The rushing falls of which it was once said, "even now it is like this"—up to that time, I suppose, they still kept the look of long ago.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1048

Headnote: "Hearing that the stones of the Waterfall Pavilion at Daikakuji had been moved to the Kan'in and no trace was left, I went to see it, and recalling how Akazome had written 'even now it is like this,' I felt deeply moved"
Hearing that the stones of the Waterfall Pavilion at Daikakuji in Saga had been moved to the Kan'in mansion and nothing was left, Saigyō went to see the site. The falls of which Akazome Emon once wrote that, ruined as they were, even now they had such charm, must still have kept something of their old form at that time, he reflects, lamenting a present that has lost even more.
The Waterfall Pavilion of Daikakuji, a remnant of Emperor Saga's detached palace, was a famous place whose decay was sung by Akazome Emon and Fujiwara no Kintō. Beyond the ruin described by earlier poets, time has moved on until even the stones are gone, and in this Saigyō sees the weight of passing years.

First line, “ima da ni mo”: even now, quoting the words of Akazome Emon's poem.
Second line, “kakari to iishi”: of which it was said, "it is like this"; shi is the attributive of the past auxiliary ki.
Third line, “takitsuse no”: of the rushing falls, the stream of the Waterfall Pavilion at Daikakuji.
Fourth line, “sono ori made wa”: until the time when Akazome wrote her poem.
Fifth line, “mukashi narikemu”: kemu conjectures about the past, that until then it was surely still as of old.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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