Hoka no se wa fukaku narurashi Asukagawa kinō no fuchi zo waga mi narikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ほかの瀬は深くなるらしあすか川
昨日の淵ぞ我が身なりける

Roma-ji: Hoka no se wa fukaku narurashi Asukagawa kinō no fuchi zo waga mi narikeru
English Translation: The other shallows
seem to be growing deeper;
in the Asuka,
the pool that was deep yesterday
is what I have become
Meaning: Other shallows, it seems, are growing deep; in the River Asuka, the deep pool of yesterday, now turned to shallows, is what I have become.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 525

Headnote: "Sent by a woman to a man."
The poet says that other shallows seem to be growing deeper, and that she herself was the deep pool of yesterday in the ever-changing Asuka River. She laments that the man's love is deepening toward another woman, while she, once deeply loved, has become shallow to him.
According to the headnote, a woman sent this to a man. Drawing on the Kokin Wakashū poem "yo no naka wa nani ka tsune naru Asukagawa kinō no fuchi zo kyō wa se ni naru," it overlays the man's change of heart with the Asuka River, where pools and shallows change places. The next poem is the man's reply, and the two form a pair of exchanged poems.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Hoka no se wa," means "the other shallows," a figure for another woman.
In the second line, "rashi" is an auxiliary of inference based on evidence: "seem to be growing deep." The poem pauses here.
In the third line, "Asuka" is a pivot word joining the Asuka River of Yamato and "asu," tomorrow, paired with "kinō," yesterday, in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "kinō no fuchi zo," means "what was yesterday's deep pool," taking over the fourth line of the Kokin Wakashū poem unchanged. "Zo" is an emphatic particle.
The last line, "waga mi narikeru," means "was I myself," closing with the attributive "keru" in answer to "zo" in the fourth line. "Waga mi hitotsu wa" in the fourth line of the next poem takes this up.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Musubiokishi waga shitahimo no ima made ni tokenu wa hito no koinu narikeri
Next Poem: Fuchise to mo isa ya shiranami tachisawagu waga mi hitotsu wa yoru kata mo nashi