Ise wataru kawa wa sode yori nagaruredo tou ni towarenu mi wa usenu meri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

伊勢わたる川は袖より流るれど
問ふに問はれぬ身はうせぬめり

Roma-ji: Ise wataru kawa wa sode yori nagaruredo tou ni towarenu mi wa usenu meri
English Translation: The river that runs
through Ise flows from my sleeves,
and yet though I ask,
unasked in turn, this self of mine
seems about to fade away
Meaning: The river that runs through Ise flows from my very sleeves, yet I, who ask after you and am never asked after, seem about to fade away.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems IV 1256

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that the river flowing through Ise runs from her sleeves, yet she who asks and is never asked seems about to vanish. Weaving in her own name, Ise, she sings of tears that pour from her sleeves like a river and of the forlorn sense of a self fading away unheeded.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Governor of Ise, and served Fujiwara no Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda. She received the emperor's favor and later bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, she is represented in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu by "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo."
The text of the last line reads "mi wa usenu meri," which does not agree with the reading line, "mi wa ukinu meri." The text's wording is followed here.

The first line, "Ise wataru," means "flowing through Ise," weaving in the poet's own name.
The second line, "kawa wa sode yori," means "the river, from my sleeves," likening her tears to a river.
The third line, "nagaruredo," means "flows, and yet," with "do" concessive.
The fourth line, "tou ni towarenu," means "though I ask, I am not asked," repeating the verb to express a one-sided longing.
The last line, "mi wa usenu meri," means "this self seems about to vanish," with "meri" conjecture.
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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