Ima wa tomo omoi na tae so nonaka naru mizu no nagare wa yukite tazunen - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今はとも思ひな絶えそ野中なる
水の流れは行きて尋ねん

Roma-ji: Ima wa tomo omoi na tae so nonaka naru mizu no nagare wa yukite tazunen
English Translation: Do not think "it's over,"
do not let your longing break;
in the open fields
the water's stream, however thin,
I will follow and seek out
Meaning: Do not think it is over and let your feelings break off; I will follow the thin stream of water through the fields and come to you.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1407

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the second poem of the sequence on broken vows. The speaker asks the other not to give up, promising to follow the thin stream through the fields and come calling. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Chief Priest Sukechika," is Ōnakatomi no Sukechika. A son of Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu, he served, like his father, as chief priest of Ise Shrine.
The water in the fields recalls the "clear spring in the fields" sung in the Kokinshū, "Inishie no / nonaka no shimizu / nurukeredo / moto no kokoro o / shiru hito zo kumu," and is sung as an image for thinking of an old familiar heart.

The first line, "ima wa tomo," means "saying it is over now."
The second line, "omoi na tae so," uses the prohibitive "na ... so": "do not let your feelings break off." The poem breaks after the second line. Taking up "taenishi naka" of the preceding poem, it holds back the breaking.
The third line, "nonaka naru," means "in the middle of the fields."
The fourth line, "mizu no nagare wa," means "the stream flowing thinly through the fields," a figure for a bond that continues without breaking, however thin.
The last line, "yukite tazunen," means "I will go and seek you out," "n" being volitional. Where the preceding poem lamented a bond ending in severance, this one calls on the other not to break it and promises to come calling, so that a breaking bond and a continuing bond form a pair.
Author: Onakatomi no Sukechika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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