Taezu yuku asuka no kawa no yodomeraba yue shi mo aru goto hito no mimaku ni

絶えず行く明日香の川の淀めらば
故しもあるごと人の見まくに

Roma-ji: Taezu yuku asuka no kawa no yodomeraba yue shi mo aru goto hito no mimaku ni
English Translation: Never ceasing flows
the river of Asuka—
if it should stand still,
as though some cause lay behind,
others would look on, I fear
Meaning: If the river of Asuka, which flows without ceasing, should ever stand still, people would look on as though there were some reason behind it.
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1379

Headnote: "On Rivers"
The poet says that if the ever-flowing Asuka River should stand still, people would look on as though there were some reason for it. The river's flow stands for his visits to his beloved; if they stopped, people would suspect something had happened, so he resolves to keep coming without fail.
It is the first poem under the heading "On Rivers," and together with the next poem it takes up the Asuka River. As in the poems before it, concern for others' eyes lies at its root. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Never ceasing flows," describes the constant current.
The second line, "the river of Asuka," corresponds to "Asuka River" in the first line of the next poem.
The third line, "if it should stand still," stands for the visits coming to a halt.
The fourth line, "as though some cause lay behind," means as if there were a reason.
In the final line, "mimaku" is the nominalized form of "mimu," "would see."
Source: Manyoshu
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