Yoshinoyama fumoto no taki ni nagasu hana ya mine ni tsumorishi yuki no shitamizu

吉野山麓の滝に流す花や
峰に積もりし雪の下水

Roma-ji: Yoshinoyama fumoto no taki ni nagasu hana ya mine ni tsumorishi yuki no shitamizu
English Translation: On Mount Yoshino,
the blossoms the falls carry
at the mountain's foot—
are they the waters flowing
from under snow piled on peaks?
Meaning: Are the blossoms carried down the falls at the foot of Mount Yoshino the waters flowing from beneath the snow that lay piled upon the peaks?
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1461

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Blossoms"
The ninth of the ten poems on blossoms. The petals flowing down the falls at the foot of Mount Yoshino are seen as meltwater running from the snow piled on the peaks.
It is a poem of double likeness: the blossoms fallen on the peaks are snow, and their flowing down is the water beneath that snow. Taking up the two preceding poems on petals strewn in a garden, this one follows the blossoms from peak to foot on the scale of the whole mountain.

First line, “Yoshinoyama”: the same first line as 1453 and 1454, returning to the stage of the set.
Second line, “fumoto no taki ni”: at the falls at the mountain's foot, paired as low against “mine” in the fourth line.
Third line, “nagasu hana ya”: ya is interrogative, "the blossoms carried down"; the line has an extra syllable.
Fourth line, “mine ni tsumorishi”: shi marks the past, "that lay piled on the peaks."
Fifth line, “yuki no shitamizu”: meltwater running beneath piled snow, the blossoms on the peaks seen as snow; ending on a noun.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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