Yoso ni kiku nawashiromizu ni aware waga oritatsu na o mo nagashitsuru kana - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

よそに聞く苗代水にあはれ我が
おりたつ名をも流しつるかな

Roma-ji: Yoso ni kiku nawashiromizu ni aware waga oritatsu na o mo nagashitsuru kana
English Translation: The seedling-bed waters
I had only heard of from afar,
alas, now it is I
who must step down into them,
letting my name drift away
Meaning: Into the seedling-bed waters I had only heard of as someone else's affair, alas, I myself must now step down, and I have let even my name drift away as one who goes down to the provinces.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 335

This is the reply to the preceding poem, 334. The poet laments that he must now step down himself into the seedling-bed waters he had only heard of as someone else's concern, and that he has even let his name float about as one bound for the provinces. Taking up 'seedling-bed waters' from the preceding poem and layering stepping into a paddy with going down to a province, it answers the complaint lightly.
Some manuscripts name Fujiwara no Kanefusa as the author and present it as the 'reply' to the preceding poem. It would then be the answer of Kanefusa himself as he left to become Governor of Tango.
Poems 334 and 335 in this book form an exchange of poems on the seedling-bed waters.

First line, 'yoso ni kiku', means heard of as someone else's affair, showing that the poet had thought it no concern of his.
Second line, 'nawashiromizu ni', is the same as the fourth line of the preceding poem, 334, taking up the very words of the poem he received.
Third line, 'aware waga', means alas, I, the interjection aware voicing his lament.
Fourth line, 'oritatsu na o mo', is a pivot word in which oritatsu means both stepping down into the paddy and going down from the capital to a province, left in kana. Na means name or reputation.
Final line, 'nagashitsuru kana', means I have let it drift away, nagasu meaning to spread a reputation and being a word related to the water of the second line. The perfective tsu with kana adds a note of exclamation.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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