漏らさばや細谷川の埋もれ水
影だに見えぬ恋に沈むと
影だに見えぬ恋に沈むと
- Roma-ji
-
Morasabaya hosotanigawa no umoremizu kage dani mienu koi ni shizumu to
- English Translation
-
How I wish to let it seep—
like buried water flowing
in a narrow gorge,
I am sunk in a love where
not even your face can be seen
- Meaning
- How I wish I could let you know, like water seeping from a narrow mountain stream buried under leaves, that I am sunk in a love where I cannot even glimpse you.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Love Poems II 478
Like water flowing hidden under the plants of a narrow mountain stream, the poet is sunk in a love in which she cannot even glimpse the beloved, and she longs at least to confess it. In buried water that no one sees, she overlays a love that sinks within, unable to show itself.
Like the wasuremizu, forgotten water, of poem 458 in this book, it overlays love on water that no one knows. It also shares a mood with the tani no shitamizu, the hidden water of the valley, in poem 382 of Book Seven.
First line, 'morasabaya', means how I wish to let it be known, using the wishing particle baya, the poem breaking after the first line. By inversion it leads on to shizumu to in the final line. Morasu echoes water seeping and is a word related to the buried water in the third line.
Second line, 'hosotanigawa no', means of the narrow mountain stream.
Third line, 'umoremizu', is water flowing hidden under plants and fallen leaves, the upper three lines standing for a secret love.
Fourth line, 'kage dani mienu', means not even a shadow to be seen, layering water that holds no reflection with not being able to see the beloved. The particle dani expresses the least.
Final line, 'koi ni shizumu to', means that I am sunk in love, shizumu being a word related to water, returning by inversion to morasabaya in the first line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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