Waga gotoku mono omou hito wa inishie mo ima yukusue mo araji to zo omou - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我がごとく物思ふ人はいにしへも
今行く末もあらじとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Waga gotoku mono omou hito wa inishie mo ima yukusue mo araji to zo omou
English Translation: Anyone who broods
in love the way that I do,
not in days of old,
not now, nor in days to come,
has there been, so I believe.
Meaning: I believe that no one who broods in love as I do has ever been, is now, or ever will be.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 965

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says: I think there has never been, is not, and never will be anyone who broods in love as I do. Extending its view from past to future, it asserts on a grand scale that one's suffering in love is beyond all comparison.

First line, "waga gotoku," means "like me." It shares the words with the first line of 957 in this book, "waga goto ya."
Second line, "mono omou hito wa," means "one who broods in love." Where 954 in this book compares itself with a deer, saying "ito ware bakari mono wa omowaji," this poem compares itself with the whole stream of time.
Third line, "inishie mo," means "in the past."
Fourth line, "ima yukusue mo," means "now and in the future," setting past, present, and future in a row with "inishie" in the third line.
Final line, "araji to zo omou," means "I think there is none," with "ji" a negative conjecture, concluding with the attributive of the verb "omou" in answer to the binding particle "zo."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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