Kasasagi no ha ni oku tsuyu no marukibashi fumimiru saki ni kie ya wataramu

鵲の羽に置く露の丸木橋
踏み見ぬ先に消えや渡らむ

Roma-ji: Kasasagi no ha ni oku tsuyu no marukibashi fumimiru saki ni kie ya wataramu
English Translation: Like dew upon the wings
of the magpies, this log bridge—
before I ever
set my foot upon it,
shall I go on vanishing?
Meaning: Like dew on the magpies' wings is this log bridge; before I ever set foot upon it, shall I go on vanishing away?
Commentary: Love Poems 415

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Among poems on love"
Calling to mind the magpie bridge said to span the River of Heaven on the night of Tanabata, the poet laments that like dew on those wings he may go on vanishing without ever crossing the bridge of love to meet his beloved.
According to the notes in the base text, the Teika text reads line 3 as makibashi. Here the base text is followed. Kamo no Mabuchi questioned the link from line 2 to line 3.

Line 1 means "of the magpies," birds said to line their wings across the River of Heaven on Tanabata night.
Line 2 repeats "dew settling on the wings" from the preceding poem, moving from the cicada's wings to the magpie's.
Line 3 names a log bridge, a crude span of a single trunk, joining the magpie bridge with the path of love.
Line 4 means "before I set foot on it," that is, before any meeting can be had.
Line 5: ya is an interrogative binding particle concluded by ramu; wataru suggests both crossing a bridge and continuing over time.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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