Nagaregi mo mitose arite wa aimiten yo no uki koto zo kaerazarikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

流れ木も三年ありてはあひ見てん
世のうき事ぞ返らざりける

Roma-ji: Nagaregi mo mitose arite wa aimiten yo no uki koto zo kaerazarikeru
English Translation: Even drifting wood,
after three years have gone by,
meets again, it seems;
but the sorrows of this world
never turn and flow back.
Meaning: Even wood drifting on the water will meet again after three years have passed, but the sorrows of this world never return to what they were.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 480

Headnote: "On the theme of floating wood"
The poet says that even drifting wood will meet again after three years, but the sorrows of this world never return to what they were. The headnote shows it was composed on the theme of floating wood. Contrasting drifting wood, which will one day come round again, with his own sorrowful plight that will never let him return to the capital, he voices the deep grief of an exile. Like the preceding poem, 479, it is Michizane's; where that poem turned to the stars in the sky, this one turns to wood floating on the water.
The author, the Posthumous Chancellor, is Sugawara no Michizane. A son of Sugawara no Koreyoshi, he was favored by Emperor Uda and rose to Minister of the Right, but was demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu and died there. After his death he was granted the Senior First Rank and the title of Chancellor.

First line, "nagaregi mo," means "even drifting wood."
Second line, "mitose arite wa," means "after three years."
Third line, "aimiten," means "will surely meet again," with "te" the irrealis form of the perfective "tsu" and "n" an auxiliary of conjecture. The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "yo no uki koto zo," means "the sorrows of the world." "Uki" is a pivot word joining "uki" of the headnote's floating wood and "uki," sorrowful. "Zo" is an emphatic particle.
Final line, "kaerazarikeru," means "never return," resolving "zo" with the attributive "keru." As with "sora ni ukite mo" in the preceding poem, sorrow is overlaid on "uki."
Author: Sugawara no Michizane
Source: Shui Wakashu
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