Ika ni sen Kumeji no hashi no nakazora ni watashi mo hatenu mi to ya narinan - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにせん久米路の橋の中空に
渡しも果てぬ身とやなりなん

Roma-ji: Ika ni sen Kumeji no hashi no nakazora ni watashi mo hatenu mi to ya narinan
English Translation: What am I to do?
Like the bridge on Kume's road
left in empty air,
must I too become a thing
never carried across?
Meaning: What am I to do? Like the stone bridge of Kumeji, left hanging in midair and never completed, must I become one whose love is never carried through?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 1061

Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
This is the first of two poems by Sanekata. As the stone bridge of Kumeji was never finished, he fears he will become one whose love is left unfulfilled, suspended in midair. According to the headnote, it was sent to a woman.
The author, "Sanekata Ason," is Fujiwara no Sanekata, a son of Fujiwara no Sadatoki, Chamberlain, and grandson of the Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Morotada. He rose to Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, but went down to Michinoku as its governor and died at his post.

The first line, "ika ni sen," means "what shall I do?" and the poem breaks after it.
In the second line, the bridge of Kumeji is the stone bridge said to have been planned from Mount Katsuragi to Kinpusen in Yoshino, which the god Hitokotonushi of Katsuragi never completed; it became a figure for something broken off halfway.
The third line, "nakazora ni," means "hanging in midair," neither one thing nor the other.
The fourth line, "watashi mo hatenu," overlays a bridge never carried across with a love never carried through.
In the last line, "ya" poses a question resolved by "nan": must I become such a one? From loves sung through tears and fire, the poem moves to a love sung through the legend of an unfinished bridge. The next poem is also by Sanekata, sung on cedar seeds sent to him by a woman.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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