Okisouru tsuyu ya ika naru tsuyu naran ima wa kiene to omou waga mi o - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

置き添ふる露やいかなる露ならん
今は消えねと思ふ我が身を

Roma-ji: Okisouru tsuyu ya ika naru tsuyu naran ima wa kiene to omou waga mi o
English Translation: The dew that settles
still more on me—what manner
of dew could it be,
upon this self of mine that wishes
now only to fade away
Meaning: What kind of dew is this that settles upon me still more, when I wish only that this self of mine would vanish now?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1173

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the seventh poem of the sequence on parting at dawn. He asks what kind of dew it is that settles still more upon a self he wishes would vanish now. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "En'yū-in," is Emperor En'yū. A son of Emperor Murakami, he was the father of Emperor Ichijō.

The first line, "okisouru," means "settling still more." Taking up the dew poems before it, it sings of dew settling again and again upon the self.
The second line, "tsuyu ya ika naru," means "what kind of dew." The particle "ya" forms a kakari-musubi with "ran" in the third line.
The third line, "tsuyu naran," means "could it be?" Repeating "dew" in the second and third lines, it pauses after the third line in the form of a question, implying that the dew is the dew of tears.
The fourth line, "ima wa kiene to," means "vanish now." "Ne" is the imperative of the perfective auxiliary "nu," a fierce expression commanding his own self to vanish.
The last line, "omou waga mi o," means "upon this self that thinks so." Where the two preceding poems likened a self fading away to dew, this one turns the relation of dew and self around, saying that dew still settles on a self that longs to vanish.
Author: Emperor En'yū
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Asatsuyu no okitsuru sora mo omōezu kiekaeritsuru kokoromadoi ni
Next Poem: Omoiidete ima wa kenubeshi yomosugara okiukaritsuru kiku no ue no tsuyu