Ujibito no tatoe no ajiro ware naraba ima wa yoramashi kotsumi kozu tomo

宇治人の譬への網代我れならば
今は寄らまし木屑来ずとも

Roma-ji: Ujibito no tatoe no ajiro ware naraba ima wa yoramashi kotsumi kozu tomo
English Translation: Were I the weir
that Uji people use in their sayings,
I would draw close now,
even if no drifting twigs
came floating down to me
Meaning: If I were the fishing weir that the people of Uji speak of in their sayings, I would draw close now, even if no floating twigs came drifting my way.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1137

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed in Yamashiro"
The poet says that if he were the weir that the people of Uji use as a figure of speech, he would draw close of his own accord even if no drifting twigs came to it. The poem is obscure and variously interpreted, but it seems to use the way things gather at a weir as a figure for hearts drawing near.
It is one of the poems composed in Yamashiro, using the weir of the Uji River as a metaphor for love. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "that Uji people," means "of the people of Uji."
The second line, "use in their sayings," refers to the weir as a figure of speech; since fish and floating debris collect at a weir, it seems to have been a figure for something people are drawn to.
The third line, "Were I the weir," means "if it were I."
In the fourth line, "I would draw close now," "mashi" is counterfactual, and the poem pauses here.
The final line, "even if no drifting twigs came floating," is a concessive hypothetical added by inversion.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ujigawa ni ōru sugamo o kawa hayami torazu kinikeri tsuto ni semashi o
Next Poem: Ujigawa o fune watase o to yobaedomo kikoezaru rashi kaji no oto mo sezu