Morotomo ni yukanu mikawa no yatsuhashi wa koishi to nomi ya omoiwataran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

もろともに行かぬ三河の八橋は
恋しとのみや思ひわたらん

Roma-ji: Morotomo ni yukanu mikawa no yatsuhashi wa koishi to nomi ya omoiwataran
English Translation: The eight-plank bridges
of Mikawa where I did not go
along with you—
shall I only cross them still
in thoughts of longing for you?
Meaning: The Eight Bridges of Mikawa, where I did not go with you—shall I go on crossing them only in thoughts of longing?
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 317

Headnote: "When Minamoto no Yoshitane was Vice-Governor of Mikawa, sent by the mother to her daughter"
Thinking of the Eight Bridges of Mikawa, where she did not go along, the mother wonders whether she will only go on longing for her daughter. Echoing the "bridge" of Yatsuhashi in "wataru," to cross over and to keep on, she expresses an endless love for her distant daughter. According to the headnote, when Minamoto no Yoshitane was in his province as Vice-Governor of Mikawa, the mother who stayed in the capital sent this to their daughter who had gone with him. The Eight Bridges of Mikawa are a famed place known from the journey to the East in The Tales of Ise.
The author, called the wife of Minamoto no Yoshitane, was the wife of Yoshitane, Vice-Governor of Mikawa, and little is known of her life.

First line, "morotomo ni," means "together."
Second line, "yukanu mikawa no," means "of Mikawa, where I did not go." After the ford of Shikasuga in the preceding poem, another famed place of Mikawa is sung of.
Third line, "yatsuhashi wa," is the Eight Bridges, a famed place in Mikawa, said to be so named because the river branched like a spider's legs and eight bridges spanned it.
Fourth line, "koishi to nomi ya," means "only in longing," with "ya" a questioning particle.
Final line, "omoiwataran," means "shall I go on thinking," laying on "wataru" both crossing a bridge and continuing, with "ya" resolved by the attributive "ran." The next poem, 318, also sings of a "bridge" and "koiwataru," so the bridge poems form a pair.
Author: Wife of Minamoto no Yoshitane
Source: Shui Wakashu
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