| Japanese | Romanization | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 山川に | Yamagawa ni | Ah, the weir |
| 風のかけたる | Kaze no kaketaru | that the wind has flung |
| しがらみは | Shigarami wa | across the mountain stream |
| 流れもあへぬ | Nagaremo aenu | is the autumn foliage that cannot flow on, |
| もみぢなりけり | Momoji narikeri | even though it would. |
Harumichi no Tsuraki (春道列樹, ? – 920) was a relatively unknown, lower-ranking member of the Court who graduated from the Imperial university in 910 and had only a few poems published in the official anthologies. So, it’s somewhat unusual to see such a poem like this in the Hyakunin Isshu anthology, but as Mostow points out, commentators in the past heavily praised the line “the weir1 that the wind has flung” (kaze no kaketaru shigarami wa). Fujiwara no Teika, the composer of the Hyakunin Isshu, must have been similarly impressed.
Anyhow, nice to see someone get their moment in the sun (let alone poetic history).
1 A weir, by the way, is a barrier across the length river or stream designed to adjust the flow of a stream. I had to look this up. 😅 Featured photo is a weir at the Thorp Gristmill in Thorp, WA. A. Balet, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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The Hyakunin Isshu 
Where is the pronunciation for the last sentence?
Oops, sorry about that. It’s fixed. 🙂
Isn’t yamaGA?
Oof, good catch. Thank you very much. I’ve made the necessary correction.