Mizu masari asaki se shirazu narinu tomo ama no to wataru fune mo nashi ya wa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水まさり浅き瀬知らずなりぬとも
天の門渡る舟もなしやは

Roma-ji: Mizu masari asaki se shirazu narinu tomo ama no to wataru fune mo nashi ya wa
English Translation: Though the waters rise
and you can no longer tell
where the shallows are,
could there be no boat to cross
the strait of Heaven's River
Meaning: Even if the waters have risen and you can no longer find the shallows, is there truly no boat to cross the straits of Heaven?
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 228

Headnote: "Reply."
She replies that even if the waters have risen and the shallows can no longer be found, surely there is a boat to cross the River of Heaven—he could have come if he had wished. She turns back the man who used the rain as an excuse, telling him he might have crossed by boat.
It forms an exchange with the preceding poem, 227.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. She is thought to be the woman whom the poet of the preceding poem was visiting.

The first line, "Mizu masari," means "the waters having risen," taking up "mizu masarikeri" in the preceding poem.
The second line, "asaki se shirazu," means "not knowing the shallows," meaning that no place to wade across can be seen.
In the third line, "tomo" gives a hypothetical concession: "even if it has become so."
The fourth line, "ama no to wataru," means "crossing the straits of Heaven," with "ama no to" the crossing point of the River of Heaven. 238 of this book also uses "ama no to wataru."
In the last line, "ya wa" is rhetorical: "is there no boat?"—meaning surely there is. She turns aside his excuse in the preceding poem: if there are no shallows, he could have come by boat.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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