Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 17
chihayaburukamiyo mo kikazuTatsutagawakarakurenai nimizu kuguru to wa
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Not even heard ofin the legendary ageof the mighty gods:the River Tatsuta in scarletand the water flowing under it.
Or, when kuguru is read as kukuru, the last two lines become:...the waters of the River Tatsutatie-dyed in scarlet.

Ariwara no Narihira (825-880)
[Scarlet autumn leaves (Photo Ad Blankestijn)]
The beauty of the red maple leaves in autumn at the River Tatsuta.

The River Tatsuta flows through the lowlands east of the Ikoma Mountains south of Nara City. The area is famous for its maple trees and its autumn foliage and figures prominently in classical poetry.

The present poem was not actually written at the River Tatsuta, but on a screen painting of that river. The custom to write poems on screens with paintings in Yamatoe-style came up at the end of the 9th c. and was quite common in the 10th c. This is made clear by a head-note in the Kokinshu which reads: "Composed on a the topic of autumn leaves flowing down the Tatsuta River, as painted on a screen belonging to the Nijo Empress when she was still called the Mother of the Heir Apparent." In other words, the poem celebrates the success and glory of the Nijo Empress in giving birth to the Heir Apparent, with its reference to the Age of the Gods. The present poem is one of the first such "screen poems" (byobu uta); in the 10th c. both Yamatoe screens and accompanying poem...