Mijikayo no nokori sukunaku fukeyukeba kanete monouki akatsuki no sora - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

短夜の残り少なく更けゆけば
かねて物憂き暁の空

Roma-ji: Mijikayo no nokori sukunaku fukeyukeba kanete monouki akatsuki no sora
English Translation: The short summer night
with little of it left now
grows late, deepening;
already weighing on me,
the sky that turns toward dawn
Meaning: The short summer night grows late with little of it left, and even before we part, the sky of the coming dawn weighs heavy on my heart.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1176

Headnote: "Composed when, having gone to a woman's house on a summer night, he met her only very late, once the household had fallen quiet."
This is the tenth poem of the sequence on parting at dawn. The short summer night grows late with little left, and even before parting, the sky of dawn weighs on his heart. According to the headnote, he went to a woman's house on a summer night, and while he waited for the household to fall asleep the night grew very late; he composed this poem when at last they met.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kiyotada," was a son of the Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Kanesuke and a poet counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "mijikayo no," means "of the short summer night." It contrasts with the length of the "autumn night" in 1169 of this book.
The second line, "nokori sukunaku," means "with little of the night left." It shows that by the time they met, after waiting for the household to fall asleep, the night was nearly over.
The third line, "fukeyukeba," means "since it grows late."
The fourth line, "kanete monouki," means "already heavy-hearted." Before the hour of parting has come, his heart sinks at the thought of the dawn that will part them.
The last line, "akatsuki no sora," ends on a noun. It closes with a heart that, in the very midst of the joy of meeting, already thinks of the dawn of parting, leading into the morning-after poems that follow.
Author: Fujiwara no Kiyotada
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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