Shiru rame ya yodo no tsugihashi yo to tomo ni tsurenaki hito o koiwataru to wa - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

知るらめや淀の継橋よとともに
つれなき人を恋ひわたるとは

Roma-ji: Shiru rame ya yodo no tsugihashi yo to tomo ni tsurenaki hito o koiwataru to wa
English Translation: Would she know of it?
like the joined bridge of Yodo,
night after night
for one who is so cold
I go on longing across
Meaning: Does she know, I wonder, that night after night, like one crossing the joined bridge at Yodo, I go on longing for one who is so cold?
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 374

Like one crossing again and again the joined bridge at Yodo, the poet longs night after night for one who is cold, and asks whether that person knows. Through the joined bridge and wataru, to cross, the poem conveys an unrequited love that goes on without a break.
Some manuscripts name the mother of Fujiwara no Nagazane as the author and give the headnote 'Composed on the sentiment of love at a poetry contest at Lord Saneyuki's house.' It would then be a poem on love from a contest held at the house of Fujiwara no Saneyuki.

First line, 'shiru rame ya', means would she know, with a rhetorical tone. The poem breaks after the first line, and by inversion it leads on to 'to wa' in the final line. It has the same form as the final line 'hito shiru rame ya' of poems 368 and 401 in this book.
Second line, 'yodo no tsugihashi', is the joined bridge at Yodo in Yamashiro, a bridge built of boards joined together. From the sound of Yodo it leads into yo in the third line.
Third line, 'yo to tomo ni', means night after night, repeating the sound of Yodo in the second line. The first line of poem 387 in this book is also 'yo to tomo ni'.
Fourth line, 'tsurenaki hito o', means for one who is cold.
Final line, 'koiwataru to wa', means that I go on longing, wataru, to cross, forming a related word with the joined bridge in the second line. The final line 'koiwataru kana' of poem 419 in this book uses the same word.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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