Asukagawa asu mo wataramu ishibashi no tōki kokoro wa omōenu kamo

明日香川明日も渡らむ石橋の
遠き心は思ほえぬかも

Roma-ji: Asukagawa asu mo wataramu ishibashi no tōki kokoro wa omōenu kamo
English Translation: The Asuka stream,
tomorrow too I'll cross it;
like the stepping stones
set apart, a distant heart
is something I cannot know
Meaning: Tomorrow too I will cross the Asuka River to you; a heart grown distant, like stepping stones set far apart, is something I cannot imagine.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2701

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Tomorrow too I will cross the Asuka River to my love, and a heart that grows distant is beyond my imagining: so this poem says. It vows unchanging love and expresses a single-minded heart that would go to meet the beloved every day.
This is a poem on a river, and the repetition of the sound in "Asukagawa" and "asu" creates a light, lilting cadence. The next poem also begins with "Asukagawa," and the two are placed side by side. Where this poem speaks of a heart that does not change, the next speaks of the pain of a love that grows day by day, the same river drawing out different sides of love.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "asukagawa": the river that flows through Asuka. It repeats the same sound as "asu," tomorrow, which follows, setting the rhythm.
Second line, "asu mo wataramu": "tomorrow too I will cross." The volitional "mu" expresses the wish to cross the river again tomorrow to reach the beloved, and the poem pauses here.
Third line, "ishibashi no": "of the stepping stones," the stones laid in a line across the shallows. Because the stones stand at intervals, they lead into "distant."
Fourth line, "tōki kokoro wa": "a distant heart," meaning a heart drawing away from the beloved, set apart by "wa."
Fifth line, "omōenu kamo": "I cannot imagine it." "Omōe" is the irrealis of "omōyu," to come to mind, "nu" the attributive of the negative "zu," and "kamo" closes with a sigh.
Source: Manyoshu
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