Uraburete mono wa omowaji minasegawa aritemo mizu wa yuku to iu mono o

うらぶれて物は思はじ水無瀬川
ありても水は行くといふものを

Roma-ji: Uraburete mono wa omowaji minasegawa aritemo mizu wa yuku to iu mono o
English Translation: I will not brood in gloom,
dejected and lost in thought;
in the waterless stream,
even as it is, the water
still flows on, or so they say
Meaning: I will not sink into gloom and brood; for even in a waterless stream, they say, the water still flows on as it is.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2817

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Questions and Answers"
Taking up the comforting words of the preceding poem, the speaker answers that there will be no more drooping and brooding, since water is said to flow even in a waterless stream. Through the water running beneath the sand of the riverbed, the speaker resolves to trust the other's heart, unseen yet ever flowing.
As the left note "the two poems above" shows, this answering poem forms a pair with the preceding one. It takes up "uraburete" in its own first line and answers the prohibition "mono na omoi so" with "mono wa omowaji." Against the preceding poem's image of drifting clouds, this poem replies with the image of a river's water that never ceases to flow.
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, "uraburete": "drooping in spirit." It is the same word as the first line of the preceding poem, taking up the words of the question just as they are.
Second line, "mono wa omowaji": "I will not brood." "Ji" expresses negative intention, answering "mono na omoi so" in the preceding poem. A pause falls after the second line.
Third line, "minasegawa": a stream with no water on its surface, the water flowing beneath the sand of its bed. It is used as an image for a feeling that does not cease even when unseen.
Fourth line, "aritemo mizu wa": "even as it is, the water." "Aritemo" carries the sense of "even in that state where no water seems to be," and the particle "wa" singles out the water.
Fifth line, "yuku to iu mono o": "they say it flows on." "Mono o" closes the poem with a note of feeling, expressing the wish to trust the other's heart, which continues though unseen.
Source: Manyoshu
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