Hitori fusu aretaru yado no toko no ue ni aware ikuyo no nezame shitsuran - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ひとり臥す荒れたる宿の床の上に
あはれ幾夜の寝覚めしつらん

Roma-ji: Hitori fusu aretaru yado no toko no ue ni aware ikuyo no nezame shitsuran
English Translation: Lying all alone
in a house fallen to ruin,
upon my bed there,
ah, for how many nights now
have I woken from my sleep
Meaning: Lying alone on my bed in this ruined house, ah, how many nights have I woken in the dark?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1217

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the ninth poem of the sequence on a love whose visits have ceased. Lying alone on the bed of a ruined house, she sighs over how many nights she has woken in the dark. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Daughter of the Monk Anpō," was a daughter of the poet-monk Anpō. Anpō was a great-grandson of Minamoto no Tōru and lived at the Kawara-in.

The first line, "hitori fusu," means "lying alone." The fear of "must I sleep alone" in 1208 of this book has here already become reality.
The second line, "aretaru yado no," means "of a house fallen to ruin." A dwelling fallen to ruin because no one visits becomes an image of a forgotten self.
The third line, "toko no ue ni," means "upon my bed," and has six syllables, one more than the norm.
The fourth line, "aware ikuyo no," means "ah, how many nights." "Aware" is an interjection expressing grief directly.
The last line, "nezame shitsuran," means "have I woken?" Like "kasanete" in the preceding poem, it shows the piling up of pain, here as the count of nights spent waking.
Author: Daughter of the Monk Anpō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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