Michinoku no Totsuna no hashi ni kuru tsuna no taezu mo hito ni iiwataru kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

陸奥の十綱の橋に繰る綱の
絶えずも人に言ひわたるかな

Roma-ji: Michinoku no Totsuna no hashi ni kuru tsuna no taezu mo hito ni iiwataru kana
English Translation: Far in Michinoku
at the bridge of Ten Ropes
the ropes are hauled across,
and unbroken, like those ropes,
I keep telling her my love
Meaning: Like the ropes that are hauled at the Bridge of Ten Ropes far off in Michinoku, never breaking, I go on and on telling her of my love.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 716

Headnote: "Composed as a love poem when hundred-poem sequences were presented"
Composed as a love poem when hundred-poem sequences were presented; the sequences are the Kyūan Hundred-Poem Sequences presented to Retired Emperor Sutoku. Like the ropes hauled at the Bridge of Ten Ropes in Michinoku, he says, I go on without break telling her my love. The first three lines are a preface leading to "taezu," "unbroken," and borrowing the curious scene of a northern bridge crossed by hauling ropes, he expresses the persistence of a love that keeps on declaring itself.
The author, "Former Consultant Chikataka," is Fujiwara no Chikataka. The son of Fujiwara no Tamefusa, he rose to Consultant and was one of the poets of the Kyūan Hundred-Poem Sequences.

First line, "Michinoku no": "of Michinoku," pointing to the distant eastern province.
Second line, "Totsuna no hashi ni": the Bridge of Ten Ropes is a famed place in Michinoku, said to have been crossed by pulling on ropes.
Third line, "kuru tsuna no": "the ropes that are hauled," with the first three lines forming a preface that leads to "taezu" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "taezu mo hito ni": "unbroken, to her," overlapping ropes that do not break with a love that is declared without pause.
Fifth line, "iiwataru kana": "wataru" means "to keep doing," a related word to "hashi," "bridge," in the second line. "Kana" is exclamatory, "how I keep on telling her!"
Author: Fujiwara no Chikataka
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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