Toshitsuki wa waga mi ni soete suginuredo omou kokoro no yukazu mo aru kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年月は我が身に添へて過ぎぬれど
思ふ心のゆかずもあるかな

Roma-ji: Toshitsuki wa waga mi ni soete suginuredo omou kokoro no yukazu mo aru kana
English Translation: Months and years go by,
keeping company with me,
and yet they pass on,
while this heart that longs for you
has never found its ease
Meaning: The months and years have passed, keeping company with me, and yet this heart that longs for you has never once found contentment.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 999

Headnote: "Sent for the first time to the daughter of the Kujō Minister of the Right."
This is the second poem of the sequence on longing that has lasted for years. The months and years have passed along with the speaker, yet the longing heart remains unsatisfied and unrelieved. According to the headnote, it was the first poem sent to the daughter of the Kujō Minister of the Right.
The author, "Former Minister of the Left of Nishinomiya," is Minamoto no Takaakira. A son of Emperor Daigo, he was made a commoner with the surname Minamoto and rose to Minister of the Left. In the second year of Anna he was exiled as Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu in the Anna Incident. His mansion at Nishinomiya earned him the name Nishinomiya Minister of the Left.
The Kujō Minister of the Right is Fujiwara no Morosuke, so called from his residence at Kujō. Takaakira took his daughters as wives.
The next poem is the daughter's reply to this one.

The first line, "toshitsuki wa," as if taking up "toshi o hete" from the preceding poem, shows the long passage of time.
The second line, "waga mi ni soete," means "along with my own self," the years passing as if keeping the speaker company.
The third line, "suginuredo," is concessive: though the years have passed, and it turns to the lower verse.
The fourth line, "omou kokoro no," means "the heart that longs for you."
In the last line, "yuku" is the "yuku" of "kokoro yuku," to be at ease and satisfied. The years go on while the heart never reaches content, a contrast by which even a first love letter pleads the depth of a feeling long kept hidden.
Author: Minamoto no Takaakira
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Toshi o hete omou kokoro no shirushi ni zo sora mo tayori no kaze wa fukikeru
Next Poem: Morotomo ni aware to iwazu hito shirenu towazugatari o ware nomi ya sen