Namida koso yukue mo shiranu Miwa no saki Sano no watari no ame no yūgure

涙こそ行方も知らぬ三輪の崎
佐野の渡りの雨の夕暮

Roma-ji: Namida koso yukue mo shiranu Miwa no saki Sano no watari no ame no yūgure
English Translation: My tears, indeed,
know not where they go;
at Cape Miwa,
at the Sano crossing,
evening in the rain.
Meaning: My tears flow on, knowing not where they go: at the Sano crossing on Cape Miwa, in the rain at dusk.
Commentary: Love Poems 472

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the theme of love at famous places"
Amid the evening rain at the Sano crossing on Cape Miwa, the poet's tears flow endlessly, he knows not where. It depicts a lonely scene in which rain and tears become one.
Kamo no Mabuchi judged ame no yūgure in line 5 to be in the later style.

Line 1: koso is a binding particle taken up by shiranu in line 2, though the concluding form is not kept.
Line 2 means "not knowing where they go," tears flowing without end.
Line 3 names Cape Miwa, a poetic place in Kii.
Line 4 means "of the Sano crossing."
Line 5 ends on a noun, overlaying falling rain and flowing tears; it continues the tears of the preceding poem.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Azumaji no michinooku naru Shirakawa no sekiaenu sode o moru namida kana
Next Poem: Hito shirezu omoeba kurushi Takekuma no matsu to wa mataji mateba subenashi