Spin & Discover Kakekotoba!
Poem 77: Retired Emperor Sutoku
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.
瀬をはやみ
岩にせかるる
滝川の
われても末に
あはむとぞ思ふ
Commentary
This poem has two kakekotoba hidden within it.
A kakekotoba layers two meanings onto a single word that sounds the same either way.
The first is "warete mo." It carries both "割れても" (even when the water splits apart on the rocks) and "別れても" (even when we part).
The second is "awamu." It carries both "合はむ" (the water will come back together) and "逢はむ" (I will meet you again).
Because the current runs so swiftly, the rushing river is split apart by a rock — yet in the end its waters flow back together as one. Just so, even if we must part for now, I know that someday we will meet again.
The scene of the river is layered onto the poet's hope of parting from, and someday reuniting with, a beloved.
Packing two meanings into just thirty-one syllables is exactly what makes kakekotoba so appealing.
Vocabulary
Because the river's current runs swiftly.
"~o …mi" means "because it is ~."
Is dammed up, blocked.
A swift-flowing river, a torrent.
I think so. "Zo" adds emphasis.