Ashine hau mizu no ue to zo omoishi o uki wa waga mi ni arikeru mono o - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

葦根はふ水の上とぞ思ひしを
うきは我が身にありけるものを

Roma-ji: Ashine hau mizu no ue to zo omoishi o uki wa waga mi ni arikeru mono o
English Translation: Where the reed roots creep,
on the water's face, I thought,
was where things float free,
but sorrow, it turns out,
lay within my very self
Meaning: I thought that floating was the way of the water where the reed roots creep, but the sorrow, it turns out, lay within my own self.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 417

The poet had thought that floating belonged to the water where reed roots creep, but the sorrow, it turns out, lay in his own lot. With uki meaning both floating and sorrowful, the poem turns resentment of the other into the sorrow of his own self.
Some manuscripts give the headnote 'Sent in resentment to a woman.'
The author, Kinzane, is Fujiwara no Kinzane. A son of Fujiwara no Sanesue, he served as Master of the Crown Prince's Household and rose to Provisional Major Counselor, and was one of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequences.

First line, 'ashine hau', means where reed roots creep, a waterside scene. 'Shita hau ashi no' in poem 401 in this book also sings of reed roots.
Second line, 'mizu no ue to zo', means that it was on the water, strengthened by the particle zo.
Third line, 'omoishi o', means I had thought, and yet, the attributive of the past ki with the concessive o.
Fourth line, 'uki wa waga mi ni', is a pivot word in which uki means both uki, floating on the water, and uki, sorrowful, left in kana. 'Namida no uki ni' in poem 390 in this book uses the same pivot word.
Final line, 'arikeru mono o', means it was there all along, the exclamatory keri with mono o.
Author: Fujiwara no Kinzane
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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