Spin & Discover Kakekotoba!
Poem 27: Middle Counselor Kanesuke
Try to find the kakekotoba hidden in the poem and tap it.
The word you tap will spin right where it is, revealing its two meanings in turn.
みかの原
わきて流るる
いづみ川
いつ見きとてか
恋しかるらむ
Commentary
The word "izumi" is a kakekotoba.
A kakekotoba layers two meanings onto a single word that sounds the same either way.
Here, "izumi" carries both "泉" (izumi, a spring) and "いつ見" (itsu mi, "when did I see [you]").
The Izumi River rises and flows, cutting across the Mika Plain. From the sound of the river's name comes the question "itsu miki tote ka" ("just when did I ever see you?") — expressing the poet's bewildered love: why do I long for you so deeply, when we have not even truly gotten to know each other?
Packing two meanings into just thirty-one syllables is exactly what makes kakekotoba so appealing.
Vocabulary
The name of a plain on the north bank of the Kizu River, in southern Kyoto Prefecture.
Welling up.
Cutting across, dividing. Both meanings overlap in the word "wakite."
Saying that — could it be ~?
Must be why I long for you so.
"Ramu" expresses a guess at the present cause or reason.