Nakanaka ni ii mo hanatade Shinano naru Kisoji no hashi no kaketaru ya nazo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なかなかに言ひも放たで信濃なる
木曽路の橋のかけたるやなぞ

Roma-ji: Nakanaka ni ii mo hanatade Shinano naru Kisoji no hashi no kaketaru ya nazo
English Translation: Rather than this, why
not say it plainly and be done?
Like Shinano's
suspended bridge on the Kiso road,
why leave me hanging so?
Meaning: Why not tell me plainly and be done with it? Instead you leave me hanging, like the suspended bridge on the Kiso road in Shinano—why?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 865

Headnote: "Sent to a woman"
The poem appeals to a woman: why not refuse me outright? Instead you leave me hanging, like the suspended bridge of the Kiso road in Shinano—why? It sings of frustration at a partner who neither refuses nor accepts.
According to the headnote, it was sent to a woman. The suspended bridge of the Kiso road was a plank path built along the steep valleys of Kiso in Shinano, sung as something hanging perilously in midair. Following the preceding poem, it is the third in the sequence of bridge poems.
The author, "Minamoto no Yorimitsu," was the eldest son of Minamoto no Mitsunaka of the Seiwa Genji, served as governor of Settsu among other posts, and was a warrior in the service of Fujiwara no Michinaga. He is known for the legend of slaying the ogre Shuten Dōji.

First line, "nakanaka ni," means "rather, better than being left halfway."
Second line, "ii mo hanatade," means "without even saying it outright," with "de" a negative conjunctive particle.
Third line, "Shinano naru," means "which is in Shinano," with "naru" expressing location.
Fourth line, "Kisoji no hashi no," means "of the suspended bridge on the Kiso road." Following "Kumeji no hashi" in 863 and "Nagara no hashibashira" in 864, it closes the sequence of bridge poems.
Final line, "kaketaru ya nazo," means "why is it left hanging," with "kake" a pivot word joining the building of a bridge and keeping someone in one's heart. "Nazo" asks a reason, and the ending "ya nazo" is shared with the final line of 860 in this book, "koishiki ya nazo."
Author: Minamoto no Yorimitsu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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