Nagarete wa imose no yama no naka ni otsuru yoshino no kawa no yoshiya yo no naka - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

流れては妹背の山のなかに落つる
吉野の川のよしや世の中

Roma-ji: Nagarete wa imose no yama no naka ni otsuru yoshino no kawa no yoshiya yo no naka
English Translation: Flowing, ever flowing,
down between the mountains named
for husband and wife,
falls the Yoshino River;
so be it, this world of love
Meaning: Flowing on and on, the Yoshino River falls between the mountains named for husband and wife. As its name suggests, so be it: such are the ways of men and women.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 828

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Singing of the Yoshino River flowing down between Mount Imo and Mount Se, the poem draws yoshiya, "so be it," from the river's name and closes with acceptance of love's end: such is the bond between men and women. The first four lines form a preface, layering onto the flowing river the relationship of lovers parted by the passage of time.
This poem ends the book. Where the opening poem, 747, began with grief for a love gone by, the book closes with the resignation of "so be it, the world." The love poems, which have traced love from its beginning to its end, conclude here.

The first line, "flowing on," layers the river's flow with the flow of time, hinting at where love finally ends.
The second line names Mount Imo and Mount Se, facing each other across the Yoshino River, symbols of husband and wife.
In the third line naka is a pivot word, meaning both the space between the two mountains and the bond between man and woman. The line is hypermetric at six syllables.
The fourth line names the Yoshino River in Yamato, which by repeated sound leads to yoshiya in the last line. The lines up to here form a preface.
In the last line yoshiya means "so be it," and yo no naka means the relations of men and women. The second line of poem 794 uses the same Yoshino-yoshiya pattern, but here it closes the poem and the book not with a vow but with resignation.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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