Asukagawa fuchi wa se ni naru yo nari tomo omoisometemu hito wa wasureji - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

飛鳥川淵は瀬になる世なりとも
思ひ初めてむ人は忘れじ

Roma-ji: Asukagawa fuchi wa se ni naru yo nari tomo omoisometemu hito wa wasureji
English Translation: Though the Asuka—
its deep pools turn into shallows—
be the way of the world,
the one I have come to love
I shall never forget.
Meaning: Even in a world as changeable as the Asuka River, whose deep pools turn to shallows, I will never forget the one I have come to love.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 687

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The speaker vows never to forget the one once loved, even in a world as changeable as the Asuka River, whose pools and shallows trade places. Bringing in the Asuka, a symbol of impermanence, the poem sets it against an unchanging heart.
The shifting pools and shallows of the Asuka are known from 933 in Book Eighteen, "What in this world is constant? In the Asuka River, yesterday's pool is today's shallows." In this book too, with "Asuka no kawa" in 720 and "fuchi" and "asaki se" in 722, the depths and shallows of a river repeatedly stand for the depth of the heart.

The first line, "Asukagawa," is the river flowing through Asuka in Yamato, a famed poetic place whose shifting course made it a symbol of the world's impermanence.
The second line, "fuchi wa se ni naru," means "deep pools become shallows," expressing the changes of the world.
The third line, "yo nari tomo," means "even if such is the world," setting a concessive hypothesis.
The fourth line, "omoisometemu," means "once I have begun to love," showing a love that has taken root deep in the heart.
The final line, "hito wa wasureji," means "that one I shall not forget," the negative volitional "ji" expressing a firm vow.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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