Ana koishi hatsuka ni hito o mizu no awa no kiekaeru tomo shirasete shigana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あな恋しはつかに人をみづの泡の
消えかへるとも知らせてしがな

Roma-ji: Ana koishi hatsuka ni hito o mizu no awa no kiekaeru tomo shirasete shigana
English Translation: Ah, how I long so!
I saw her but for a glance,
like foam upon the water,
I wish I could let her know
that I am fading away.
Meaning: Ah, how I long for her! I saw her only for a moment; I wish I could let her know that I am fading away like foam upon the water.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 636

Headnote: "Sent upon seeing the Consort, daughter of the Tsutsumi Middle Counselor"
The poem cries, "Ah, how I long!" and wishes the poet could let the one he glimpsed for a moment know that he is fading away like foam on the water. The headnote shows that Fujiwara no Saneyori sent it upon seeing the Consort, daughter of the Tsutsumi Middle Counselor. Pivoting "mizu" on "mitsu," saw, and "mizu," water, it likens a heart captured by a single glance to fleeting foam on the water. Taking up "kimi ni shirasemu" in the preceding poem, 635, it too sings of the wish to make one's love known, "shirasete shigana."
The author, written as "Ono no Miya Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Saneyori. The eldest son of the Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira, he rose to Regent and Chancellor and founded the Ono no Miya line. His posthumous title is Lord Seishin.

First line, "ana koishi," means "ah, how I long," with "ana" an interjection. The poem breaks after this first line.
Second line, "hatsuka ni hito o," means "her, for a mere moment."
Third line, "mizu no awa no," is a pivot word: "mizu" means "I saw" her and "water." It is a hypermetric line of six syllables, and the next poem, 637, answers it with the same word in its third line, "mizu no awa ni."
Fourth line, "kiekaeru tomo," means "that I am fading utterly away," layering the vanishing of foam with pining to the point of death.
Final line, "shirasete shigana," means "I wish I could let her know," with "teshigana" a final particle expressing one's own wish.
Author: Fujiwara no Saneyori
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ikade ka wa kaku omou chō koto o dani hitozute narade kimi ni shirasemu
Next Poem: Nagakaraji to omou kokoro wa mizu no awa ni yosouru hito no tanomarenu kana