聞きわたる御手洗川の水清み
底の心を今日ぞ見るべき
底の心を今日ぞ見るべき
- Roma-ji
-
Kikiwataru Mitarashigawa no mizu kiyomi soko no kokoro o kyō zo mirubeki
- English Translation
-
Long have I heard tell
of the River Mitarashi,
so clear its waters,
that today I shall see down
to the bottom of your heart
- Meaning
- The waters of the Mitarashi River, of which I have long heard, are so clear that today I shall surely see to the very depths of your heart.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 592
The waters of the Mitarashi River, long heard of, are so clear, the poet says, that just as its bed shows through, today he shall see to the depths of the other's heart. Through the purity of the shrine's purification stream, he hopes at last to confirm the sincerity of the other's heart today.
The poet was chief priest of the Sumiyoshi Shrine, and so was well placed to sing of a shrine's purification stream. Poem 530 in this book sings of the pine of Sumiyoshi.
The author, Kunimoto, is Tsumori no Kunimoto, who served as chief priest of the Sumiyoshi Shrine. His poems are included in the Goshūi Wakashū and later imperial anthologies.
First line, 'kikiwataru', means long hearing of its fame, wataru expressing continuation in time.
Second line, 'Mitarashigawa no', means of the purification stream where shrine visitors wash their hands and rinse their mouths.
Third line, 'mizu kiyomi', means since its waters are pure, the stem of kiyoshi with the suffix mi giving a reason.
Fourth line, 'soko no kokoro o', means the heart's depths, overlaying the riverbed with the bottom of the heart.
Final line, 'kyō zo mirubeki', means today I shall see, the particle zo answered by the attributive of beshi.
- Author
- Tsumori no Kunimoto
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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Sumiwabite ware sae noki no shinobugusa shinobu katagata shigeki yado kana
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Ishidatami arikeru mono o kimi ni mata shiku mono nashi to omoikeru kana