Suminareshi Sano no Nakagawa setae shite nagare kawaru wa namida narikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

住み馴れし佐野の中川瀬絶えして
流れ変はるは涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Suminareshi Sano no Nakagawa setae shite nagare kawaru wa namida narikeri
English Translation: Where I long dwelt, the
Nakagawa at Sano
has lost its shallows,
and what changes now and flows
are these tears of mine, I find
Meaning: As the Nakagawa at Sano, where I long dwelt, has lost its shallows and changed its course, so our meetings have ceased, and what flows in their place, I find, are my tears.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 890

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'love that met and then met no more' when the Regent, as Minister of the Right, had others compose hundred-poem sequences at his house"
This poem was composed on the topic "love that met and then met no more" when the Regent Fujiwara no Kanezane, as Minister of the Right, had others compose hundred-poem sequences at his house. The Nakagawa at Sano where I long dwelt has lost its shallows, he says, and what changes and flows are my tears. Just as the shallows of a river where he was used to going have ceased and the flow has changed, the lovers' meetings have ceased, and all that flows now are his tears: the poem conveys grief at a love that met once and then broke off.
The author, "Minamoto no Nakatsuna," was the son of Minamoto no Yorimasa. He served as Governor of Izu and other posts, joined his father in Prince Mochihito's uprising, and was killed in the battle at Uji. "The Regent" in the headnote is Kujō Kanezane.
Like the preceding poem, 889, it sings of a "Nakagawa"; where the preceding poem sings of an unbroken bond through a Naka River whose flow never ceases, this one sings of a broken bond through a Nakagawa whose shallows have ceased. The last line, "namida narikeri," is shared with 849, 868 and 872 in this book. It is on the same topic, "love that met and then met no more," as 850 and 894 in this book.

First line, "suminareshi": "long dwelt in, long used to," showing that he was once used to visiting his beloved.
Second line, "Sano no Nakagawa": the river called Nakagawa at Sano. Like "Nakagawa ni" in the third line of the preceding poem, 889, it sings of a Nakagawa.
Third line, "setae shite": "its shallows ceasing," overlaid with the ceasing of their meetings. It answers "met no more" in the topic.
Fourth line, "nagare kawaru wa": the river's flow changes, overlaid with what flows having changed to tears. It contrasts with "nagare wa taenu" in the second line of the preceding poem, 889.
Fifth line, "namida narikeri": "keri" expresses the exclamation of realization, "it is my tears, I find." It is the same last line as 849, 868 and 872 in this book.
Author: Minamoto no Nakatsuna
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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