Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.55 大納言公任(藤原公任)「滝の音は 絶えて久しく なりぬれど 名こそ流れて なほ聞こえけれ」

滝の音は 絶えて久しく なりぬれど 名こそ流れて なほ聞こえけれ

大納言公任(藤原公任)

the water stopped long ago — the name is still running

the water stopped long ago — the name is still running

キーワードKeywords

Dry WaterfallRuined GardenName Still FlowsLegacySilence
★★ Miscellaneous

大納言公任(藤原公任)Fujiwara no Kintō — No. 55 公卿Court Noble

The councillor who compiled the Wakan Rōeishū and excelled at poetry, music and Chinese verse alike — the era’s model of cultivation.

たきのおとは たえてひさしく なりぬれど なこそながれて なほきこえけれ

Taki no oto wa Taete hisashiku Narinuredo Na koso nagarete Nao kikoe kere

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

An old estate garden where the waterfall stopped running generations ago. Dry stones, no sound. The name of the fall is still in circulation, still being repeated — the only part of it still moving.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Nagori (Traces That Linger)

What survives a work is often not the work but its name in other people’s mouths. The poem makes that substitution literal: reputation as the water that kept flowing.