Minasegawa arite yuku mizu nakuba koso tsui ni waga mi o taenu to omowame - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水無瀬川ありて行く水なくはこそ
つひに我が身を絶えぬと思はめ

Roma-ji: Minasegawa arite yuku mizu nakuba koso tsui ni waga mi o taenu to omowame
English Translation: Minase River,
only if the flowing water
hidden there were gone,
would I think at last that you
had cut all ties with me
Meaning: The Minase River shows no water, yet water still flows beneath it. Only if that hidden stream were gone would I finally believe that our bond had come to an end.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 793

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Likening their bond to the Minase River, which seems dry on the surface but has water flowing beneath, the speaker tells herself that the tie still continues though it cannot be seen. After the foam of the preceding poem comes another poem of water, depicting a heart that will not admit the end. Like poem 760 it names the Minase River, but here the river stands not for shallowness but for water that flows on unseen.

The first line names a river whose water flows underground and cannot be seen, a figure for a hidden relationship.
The second line, "water that exists and flows," shows feeling that continues though it does not appear.
In the third line nakuba is hypothetical, and koso is resolved by the perfective me in the last line: if that water were gone.
In the fourth line tsui ni means "at last."
In the last line tae means both water ceasing and a bond ending. Me, the perfective of mu, means "then I might think it ended," implying it has not yet.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mizu no awa no kiete uki mi to iinagara nagarete nao mo tanomaruru kana
Next Poem: Yoshinogawa yoshiya hito koso tsurakarame hayaku iiteshi koto wa wasureji