Au koto no munashiki sora no ukigumo wa mi o shiru ame no tayori narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことのむなしき空のうき雲は
身を知る雨のたよりなりけり

Roma-ji: Au koto no munashiki sora no ukigumo wa mi o shiru ame no tayori narikeri
English Translation: In the empty sky
of meetings that never come,
the drifting sad clouds
are what bring the rain that shows
how little I am worth.
Meaning: The drifting, doleful clouds in the empty sky of meetings that never come are what bring the rain of tears that teaches me how little I am worth.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1134

Headnote: "From a hundred-poem sequence, on the idea of love."
This is the second of three poems on love linked to clouds. The doleful clouds drifting in the empty sky of meetings that never come bring the rain of tears that teaches the speaker his own worth. According to the headnote, it is a love poem from a hundred-poem sequence.
The author, "Prince Koreakira," was a son of Emperor Takakura.
"Rain that shows one's worth" is a phrase drawn from Ariwara no Narihira's poem in the Tales of Ise, episode 107: "Unable to ask whether you love me or not, the rain that shows my worth falls ever harder."

The first line, "au koto no," means "meeting," and runs on to "munashiki" in the second line. After "au koto wa" in poem 1131 of this book, the difficulty of meeting is sung again.
The second line, "munashiki sora no," layers the emptiness of meetings that never come with the empty expanse of the sky.
In the third line, "ukigumo wa," "uki" holds both "uki," drifting in the sky, and "uki," doleful. After the clouds rising over Mount Tatsuta in the preceding poem, clouds are sung again.
The fourth line, "mi o shiru ame no," means "of the rain that teaches one's worth," a figure for tears.
The last line, "tayori narikeri," means "is what brings it," with "keri" marking realization. As doleful clouds in the sky bring rain, the sorrow of love without meeting draws tears that teach the speaker his own worth.
Author: Prince Koreakira
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Nakina nomi tatsuta no yama ni tatsu kumo no yukue mo shiranu nagame o zo suru
Next Poem: Waga koi wa au o kagiri no tanomi dani yukue mo shiranu sora no ukigumo