classic waka stream

山水のいつ出づべしと思はねば
心はそくてすむと知らずや
Roma-ji

Yamamizu no itsu izu beshi to omowaneba kokoro wa sokute sumu to shirazu ya

English Translation
Like the mountain stream,
since I have no thought at all
of when to come out,
don't you know that though forlorn,
I dwell here with a heart made clear?
Meaning
Like the mountain stream, I have no thought of when I might come out, so do you not know that, lonely as I am, I live here with my heart grown clear?
Commentary
Miscellaneous Poems 1150

Headnote: "Hearing that someone from the capital had written to a man in retreat on Kōya, asking how he fared and when he would come out, I composed this on that man's behalf"
A person in the capital had written to a man in retreat on Mount Kōya asking how he was and when he would come out; Saigyō answered on the man's behalf. Like mountain water, he has no thought of when he will come out, so do they not know that, however lonely, he lives here with a heart grown clear?
Izu, "to come out," is laid over water welling forth, and sumu pivots on "dwell" and "be clear," conveying both his resolve to remain in the mountains and the purity of his mind. It is a gentle answer to the capital's question, showing his determination to stay.

First line, “yamamizu no”: like mountain water, leading to izu, "welling forth."
Second line, “itsu izu beshi to”: when I should come out, overlaid with water welling up; the repeated sounds smooth the rhythm.
Third line, “omowaneba”: since I do not think so; the realis with ba gives a definite condition.
Fourth line, “kokoro wa sokute”: both the text and the reading line have kokoro wa sokute, taken as "lonely, forlorn"; sumu pivots on "dwell" and "be clear."
Fifth line, “sumu to shirazu ya”: ya is a rhetorical question, "do you not know that I dwell here, clear?"
Author
Saigyō
Source
Sankashu
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