Suguroku no ichiba ni tateru hitozuma no awade yaminan mono ni ya wa aranu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

双六の市場に立てる人妻の
逢はでやみなん物にやはあらぬ

Roma-ji: Suguroku no ichiba ni tateru hitozuma no awade yaminan mono ni ya wa aranu
English Translation: Like the wife of another
standing in the marketplace
on the sugoroku board,
is she not one I must leave
without ever coming to meet?
Meaning: Like another man's wife standing in the marketplace of the sugoroku board, is she not one with whom it must all end without our ever meeting?
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1214

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks whether it must not end without meeting, like another's wife standing in the marketplace of the sugoroku board. It seems to lay the language of the sugoroku board over love, lamenting that longing for a woman beyond reach, another man's wife, will end without their ever meeting. Some points of its detailed meaning remain unsettled.

First line, "suguroku no," means "of sugoroku," a game in which pieces are moved across a board.
Second line, "ichiba ni tateru," means "standing in the marketplace," seemingly a term for a place on the sugoroku board, layered with the sense of a crowded market.
Third line, "hitozuma no," means "of another's wife," a partner beyond reach. In sugoroku, a piece meeting an opponent's piece seems to be laid over "au," meeting a lover.
Fourth line, "awade yaminan," means "will end without meeting," with "de" a negative conjunctive particle and "nan" perfective and conjectural.
Final line, "mono ni ya wa aranu," means "is it not such a thing," adding the negative "nu" to "ya wa" to surmise strongly that it is so.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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