Ikemizu no soko ni arade wa nenunawa no kuru hito mo nashi matsu hito mo nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

池水の底にあらではねぬなはの
くる人もなし待つ人もなし

Roma-ji: Ikemizu no soko ni arade wa nenunawa no kuru hito mo nashi matsu hito mo nashi
English Translation: Unless it's the bottom
of the pond, no one will draw
the water shield's root;
no one comes to me, no one
for whom I wait, none at all.
Meaning: Just as no one pulls up the water shield unless at the bottom of the pond, no one comes to me, who sleeps alone, and there is no one I am waiting for.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1221

Headnote: "Reply"
The poet says that, as no one draws up the water shield except from the bottom of the pond, no one comes to her and there is no one she waits for. It is Uneme of Asuka's reply to the question in the preceding poem, 1220, asking whom she is waiting for. Pivoting on "nenunawa," the old name for water shield and "not sleeping" together, and on "kuru," to pull up the plant and to come, she says that with no one to sleep beside, there is no one she awaits, lightly parrying his teasing.
The author, Uneme of Asuka, was a palace attendant called by the name Asuka, of whom little is known.

First line, "ikemizu no," means "of the pond's water."
Second line, "soko ni arade wa," means "unless at the bottom," with "de" a negative conjunctive particle, speaking of the water shield rooted at the bottom of the pond.
Third line, "nenunawa no," is a pivot word: "nenunawa" is an old name for water shield and "nenu," not sleeping together. Up to here the lines form a preface leading to "kuru" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "kuru hito mo nashi," is a pivot word: "kuru" means to "pull up" the water shield and to "come." The poem breaks after this fourth line.
Final line, "matsu hito mo nashi," means "no one I wait for," repeating the shape of the fourth line to set the rhythm. Against "hito machigao ni" in the second line of the preceding poem, 1220, it answers that there is no one she waits for.
Author: Uneme of Asuka
Source: Shui Wakashu
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