Ima made ni nado shizumuran Kibunegawa kabakari hayaki kami o tanomu o - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今までになど沈むらん貴船川
かばかり早き神を頼むを

Roma-ji: Ima made ni nado shizumuran Kibunegawa kabakari hayaki kami o tanomu o
English Translation: Why is it that still
I lie sunken all this while,
O Kibune River,
though I trust a god as swift
as your waters rushing by?
Meaning: Why do I still lie sunk in obscurity, though I trust in a god whose power is as swift as the rushing Kibune River?
Commentary: Book Twenty Shinto Poems 1270

Headnote: "Written on a pillar of the Kibune Shrine when, grieving that I had not been made a chamberlain, I had visited the Kamo Shrine for years until my visits exceeded two thousand three hundred. Soon after this, it is said, he was made a chamberlain; it was in the reign of Emperor Konoe"
Grieving that he had not been appointed chamberlain, he visited the Kamo Shrine for many years, and when his visits passed two thousand three hundred, he went to the Kibune Shrine and wrote this poem on a pillar. Soon afterward, it is said, he became a chamberlain, in the reign of Emperor Konoe. Why do I still lie sunken, Kibune River, though I trust in a god so swift? he says. He overlays the swift current of the Kibune with the swiftness of a god who grants wishes at once, and complains to the god that he nonetheless remains sunk.
The author, "Taira no Saneshige," was an official of the late Heian period who, according to the headnote, became a chamberlain in the reign of Emperor Konoe. The details of his life are not known.
Like 1262 in this book, it complains to the god of a self sunk in obscurity and was later answered, and that poem's "shizumishi" echoes this poem's "shizumuran." 1274 in this book also sings of the Kibune River.

First line, "ima made ni": "until now."
Second line, "nado shizumuran": "nado" means why, and "ran" is the attributive of the causal conjectural "ramu." "Shizumu," to sink, means to remain without advancement and is an associated word of the river. The poem pauses here. It answers "shizumishi koto wa" in the fourth line of 1262 in this book.
Third line, "Kibunegawa": the river flowing past the Kibune Shrine in Yamashiro, known for its rapids. It is the same river as "Kibunegawa" in the first line of 1274 in this book.
Fourth line, "kabakari hayaki": "so swift," overlaying the swiftness of the current with the swiftness of the god's power.
Fifth line, "kami o tanomu o": "o" is an adversative conjunctive particle, "though I trust in the god." By inversion it gives the reason for the lament of the second line.
Author: Taira no Saneshige
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Sugi ga e o kasumi komuredo Miwa no yama kami no shirushi wa kakurezarikeri
Next Poem: Saritomo to tanomi zo kakuru yūdasuki waga Kataoka no kami to omoeba