Waga koi wa toshi furu kai mo nakarikeri urayamashiki wa Uji no hashimori - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が恋は年経るかひもなかりけり
うらやましきは宇治の橋守

Roma-ji: Waga koi wa toshi furu kai mo nakarikeri urayamashiki wa Uji no hashimori
English Translation: As for this love of mine,
all these years have been no use,
no worth have they brought;
how I envy him, the old
warden of the bridge at Uji
Meaning: My love has gained nothing from all the years it has endured. How I envy the old warden of the bridge at Uji, cherished for his years.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 724

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
My love, he says, has had no worth for all its years; how I envy the warden of the bridge at Uji. Taking as its foundation the Kokin Wakashū poem "Chihayaburu Uji no hashimori nare o shi zo aware to wa omou toshi no henureba," he contrasts the bridge warden of Uji, cherished because of the years he has lived, with himself, who has loved for years yet is never regarded by the one he loves.
The author, "Fujiwara no Akikata," was an official and poet of the late Heian period. Little is known of his career.
The foundation poem is the anonymous "Chihayaburu Uji no hashimori" in the first book of miscellaneous poems of the Kokin Wakashū.

First line, "waga koi wa": "as for my love."
Second line, "toshi furu kai mo": "toshi furu" means "years passing," drawing on "toshi no henureba" in the foundation poem.
Third line, "nakarikeri": "keri" is exclamatory, "there has been no worth at all!" The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "urayamashiki wa": "what I envy."
Fifth line, "Uji no hashimori": the warden of the Uji Bridge, the figure cherished in the foundation poem for his years. Ending on a noun, it closes by naming the one he envies.
Author: Fujiwara no Akikata
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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