Taenu tomo nani omoiken namidagawa nagare au se mo arikeru mono o - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

絶えぬとも何思ひけん涙川
流れあふ瀬もありけるものを

Roma-ji: Taenu tomo nani omoiken namidagawa nagare au se mo arikeru mono o
English Translation: "It is over now"—
why did I ever think so?
In my river of tears
there were shallows, after all,
where the flowing streams could meet
Meaning: Why did I ever think that our bond had been cut off? Even in the river of tears there were shallows where the streams meet—a time for us to meet again.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 949

Headnote: "Composed when she met the Minister of the Left on the riverbank."
The poet asks why she ever thought their bond had ended, since even the river of tears had shallows where streams meet. She likens her joy at unexpectedly meeting again a lover she had mourned as lost to the shallows where the streams of the river of tears join.
According to the headnote, she composed it on meeting the Minister of the Left by the riverbank. The Minister of the Left seems to be Fujiwara no Saneyori. She overlays their meeting by the river with the "meeting shallows" of the river of tears. Where the river of tears in 946 and 947 lamented not meeting, this poem rejoices that there were shallows for meeting, reversing the device through the same river.
The poet, listed as "Naishi Taira no Keiko," was Taira no Keiko, a palace attendant. The characters of her name are uncertain, and little more is known of her life.

The first line, "Taenu tomo," means "that it had been cut off," with "nu" the perfective auxiliary.
The second line, "nani omoiken," means "why did I think," with "ken," a form of "kemu," guessing at a cause in the past. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "namidagawa," means "river of tears," the same word as in 946 and 947 in this book.
The fourth line, "nagare au se mo," means "shallows where the streams meet too," with "au" joining streams that join and lovers who meet.
The last line, "arikeru mono o," means "there were, after all," with "mono o" an adversative conjunctive particle carrying exclamation.
Author: Taira no Keiko
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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