流れても逢ふ瀬ありけり涙川
消えにし泡を何にたとへむ
消えにし泡を何にたとへむ
- Roma-ji
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Nagarete mo ause arikeri namidagawa kienishi awa o nani ni tatoemu
- English Translation
-
Even as it flows
there are shallows where we meet,
this river of tears,
but the foam that vanished, what
could I liken that to now
- Meaning
- Even as the river of tears flows on, there are shallows where people meet again; but the foam that has vanished, to what can I compare it?
- Commentary
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Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 612
Even a river of tears, flowing on, has shallows where people may meet again, but foam that has vanished never returns, and nothing can be compared to it. Contrasting the river that has its meeting places even as it flows with foam that, once gone, can never be met, the poem expresses the grief of never seeing the departed again.
Following the river of tears in 609 in this book, this poem also likens tears to a river. Where 609 closed with nagarezarikeri, they do not flow away, this poem opens with nagarete mo, even as it flows.
First line, 'nagarete mo', means even as it flows, the current of the river of tears. It stands in contrast to the final line of 609 in this book, nagarezarikeri.
Second line, 'ause arikeri', means there are meeting shallows, laying the sense of a chance for people to meet upon se, the shallows of a river. The exclamatory keri marks a break.
Third line, 'namidagawa', means the river of tears, inverted with the first line.
Fourth line, 'kienishi awa o', means the foam that has vanished, the perfective nu with the attributive of the past ki. The fleeting foam is overlaid with the departed.
Final line, 'nani ni tatoemu', means to what shall I compare it, the conjectural mu carrying a questioning tone. Flowing, shallows, river and foam are associated words.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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