Kyō mireba Nagara no hashi wa ato mo nashi mukashi ariki to kikiwataredomo - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今日見れば長柄の橋は跡もなし
昔ありきと聞きわたれども

Roma-ji: Kyō mireba Nagara no hashi wa ato mo nashi mukashi ariki to kikiwataredomo
English Translation: When I look today,
the bridge of Nagara
has left no trace at all,
though I've long heard people say
that once it stood here long ago
Meaning: Looking today, I find not even a trace of the Nagara Bridge, though I have heard all my life that it once stood here.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1032

Headnote: "Composed at the same place"
This poem was composed near the same Nagara Bridge as the preceding one. Looking today, the Nagara Bridge has left no trace, though I have long heard it was there, he says. Having long heard of the famous bridge, he comes to see it and finds not a trace, and sings of his disappointment and the harshness of passing time. "Wataru," to go on, is associated with the bridge.
The author, "Priest Dōin," is Fujiwara no Atsuyori. He took vows under the name Dōin. He was known for his deep devotion to poetry into old age, and a poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
This is the last of the three poems on the Nagara Bridge. Where 1030 of this book says the name remains and the preceding poem, 1031, says the pillars remain, this one says not even a trace remains, so that the three poems depict, step by step, what is left of the bridge.

First line, "kyō mireba": "when I come and look today."
Second line, "Nagara no hashi wa": "the Nagara Bridge." It answers "Nagara no hashi mo" in the fourth line of 1030 of this book and "mukashi nagara no" in the fourth line of the preceding poem, 1031.
Third line, "ato mo nashi": "not a trace remains," and the poem pauses here. It contrasts with "hashibashira kana" in the fifth line of the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "mukashi ariki to": "ki" is the past auxiliary, "that it once was."
Fifth line, "kikiwataredomo": "wataru" means to go on doing over a long time and is associated with the bridge. "Domo" is an adversative conjunctive particle, "though I have long heard." The third line onward is inverted.
Author: Dōin
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Nanigoto mo kawariyuku meru yo no naka ni mukashi nagara no hashibashira kana
Next Poem: Hitogokoro arazu naredomo Sumiyoshi no matsu no keshiki wa kawarazarikeri