Kawa no se ni yo ni kieyasuki utakata no inochi o nazo ya kimi ga tanomuru

川の瀬によに消えやすきうたかたの
命をなぞや君が頼むる

Roma-ji: Kawa no se ni yo ni kieyasuki utakata no inochi o nazo ya kimi ga tanomuru
English Translation: A life like the foam
on the shallows of the stream,
so quick to vanish—
why is it that you would have me
rest my hopes on it at all?
Meaning: My life is like the foam on the river shallows, so quick to vanish—why do you make me pin my hopes on it?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1290

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
My life is like foam on the river shallows, so quick to vanish; why do you make me trust in a future? the poet asks.
Likening his fleeting life to foam on the water, he resents the beloved for making uncertain promises to one whose life may vanish at any moment, lamenting that promises of the future mean nothing to such a life.

First line, “kawa no se ni”: on the river shallows.
Second line, “yo ni kieyasuki”: yo ni means "truly," with an echo of "the world."
Third line, “utakata no”: of foam, an image of fleetingness.
Fourth line, “inochi o nazo ya”: nazo ya means "why."
Fifth line, “kimi ga tanomuru”: tanomu in its lower bigrade form means to make one rely.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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