Toshi fureba kuchi koso masare hashibashira mukashi nagara no na dani kawarade - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年経れば朽ちこそまされ橋柱
昔ながらの名だに変はらで

Roma-ji: Toshi fureba kuchi koso masare hashibashira mukashi nagara no na dani kawarade
English Translation: As the years go by,
decay only grows the more
in the bridge pillars—
while Nagara, "as of old,"
has not changed even its name.
Meaning: As the years pass, the pillars of the bridge decay ever more, while its name, Nagara, "as of old," alone stays unchanged.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1594

Headnote: "Composed on the Nagara Bridge."
This is the first poem of the sequence on the Nagara Bridge. As the years pass, the bridge pillars only decay further, while the name "Nagara," "as of old," alone remains unchanged. According to the headnote, the poem was composed with the Nagara Bridge as its topic.
The author, "Tadamine," was a poet of the early Heian period and one of the compilers of the Kokinshū. He was the father of Mibu no Tadami.
The Nagara Bridge was built over the Yodo River near its mouth in Settsu Province, thought to be around Nagara in present-day Kita Ward, Osaka. Since the Kokinshū poem "Yo no naka ni / furinuru mono wa / Tsu no kuni no / Nagara no hashi to / ware to narikeri" ("What in this world has grown old? The Nagara Bridge in Tsu, and I"), it has been sung as an emblem of things aged and decayed.

The first line, "toshi fureba," means "as the years pass." "Ba" attached to the realis form expresses a settled condition.
The second line, "kuchi koso masare," means "the decay grows ever worse." The particle "koso" is closed by the realis form "masare," and here it carries on to what follows with an adversative force.
The third line, "hashibashira," is the pillars that support the bridge. The poem breaks at this noun, presenting the decaying pillars themselves.
The fourth line, "mukashi nagara no," pivots on "mukashi nagara," "as of old," and the place name Nagara.
The last line, "na dani kawarade," means "without even the name changing." "Dani" marks a minimum, and the contrast—the substance decays while only the name remains as of old—is the heart of the poem.
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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