Koiwataru namida no kawa ni mi o nagen kono yo narade mo ause ari ya to - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋ひわたる涙の川に身を投げん
この世ならでも逢ふ瀬ありやと

Roma-ji: Koiwataru namida no kawa ni mi o nagen kono yo narade mo ause ari ya to
English Translation: Loving on and on,
into this river of tears
I will cast myself,
hoping that if not in this world
there may be a shallows to meet
Meaning: I have loved so long; I will throw myself into this river of my tears, in hope that, if not in this world, there may be a ford in the next where we can meet.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 715

Headnote: "Composed as a love poem at a poetry contest held by the Nakanoin Lay Priest, Minister of the Right, when he was a Middle Captain"
Composed as a love poem at a poetry contest held by Minamoto no Masasada, the Nakanoin Lay Priest and Minister of the Right, when he was a Middle Captain. I will throw myself into the river of tears I shed in my long love, he says, hoping that even if not in this world there may be a ford to meet. Likening his tears to a river and overlaying its "se," shallows, with "ause," a chance to meet, he expresses the urgent wish to meet in the next life if not in this one.
The author, "Fujiwara no Munekane Ason," was an official of the late Heian period. He was the father of the nun Ike no Zenni, wife of Taira no Tadamori.
Poem 717 of this book opens with the same first line, "koiwataru." The "river of tears" also appears in 723, and 733 likewise sings of throwing oneself into a river, "Ikuta no kawa ni mi o ya nagemashi."

First line, "koiwataru": "loving on and on," with "wataru," "to cross," a related word to the river. Poem 717 of this book opens with the same line.
Second line, "namida no kawa ni": an image likening the flood of tears to a river. It is the same image as "namida no kawa no" in the second line of 723 of this book.
Third line, "mi o nagen": "n" is the volitional "mu," "I will throw myself." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the lines that follow.
Fourth line, "kono yo narade mo": "narade" means "not being," "even if not in this world, in the next."
Fifth line, "ause ari ya to": "se," the shallows of a river, carries the sense of a chance to meet the beloved and relates to "kawa," "river," in the second line, "hoping there may be a ford to meet."
Author: Fujiwara no Munekane
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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