Mizu no awa no kiete uki mi to iinagara nagarete nao mo tanomaruru kana - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水の泡の消えてうき身と言ひながら
流れてなほも頼まるるかな

Roma-ji: Mizu no awa no kiete uki mi to iinagara nagarete nao mo tanomaruru kana
English Translation: Like the foam on water
I am sure to fade, and drift
in sorrow, I say,
and yet as time flows on
I find myself still trusting
Meaning: I say I am a wretched body that will vanish like foam on the water, and yet, as time flows on like that foam, I still find myself relying on you.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 792

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poem speaks of a heart that, though lamenting its sorrowful body as fleeting as foam, still finds itself relying on the lover as time flows on. Stringing together associated words, foam, floating, flowing, it layers the transient foam with a love that cannot let go.
The author, "Tomonori", is Ki no Tomonori, son of Ki no Aritomo and cousin of Ki no Tsurayuki. He rose to Senior Private Secretary and was appointed a compiler of the Kokinshū, but is said to have died before its completion. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line names foam on water, an image of what fades away. The line is hypermetric.
In the second line uki is a pivot word, meaning both floating on water and sorrowful.
The third line, "though I say so," is concessive.
The fourth line layers foam flowing with time flowing on. "Flow" is associated with foam and floating.
In the last line ruru, attributive of the spontaneous ru, means "I find myself relying," closing with the exclamatory kana.
Author: Ki no Tomonori
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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