Yomosugara kiekaeritsuru waga mi kana namida no tsuyu ni musubohore tsutsu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夜もすがら消えかへりつるわが身かな
涙の露にむすぼほれつつ

Roma-ji: Yomosugara kiekaeritsuru waga mi kana namida no tsuyu ni musubohore tsutsu
English Translation: All the long night through,
how I have been fading out,
this self that I am!
In the dew of my own tears
knotted up, over and over
Meaning: All night long I have been on the verge of fading away, my heart knotted up like dew beading from my tears.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1348

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the thirteenth poem of the dew sequence. The speaker laments having been on the verge of fading all night, overlaying that state with dewdrop tears beading. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Poem by Kazan-in," is Retired Emperor Kazan. The first son of Emperor Reizei, he took the throne as the sixty-fifth sovereign but became a monk after less than two years of reign.

The first line, "yomosugara," means "all night long."
The second line, "kiekaeritsuru," means "was so distraught I nearly faded away." "Kie" (vanish) is associated with dew: as dew vanishes, so the speaker felt near to vanishing.
The third line, "waga mi kana," ends with the exclamatory particle "kana," a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "namida no tsuyu ni," likens tears to dew, putting into words the dewdrop tears that run through the sequence.
In the last line, "musubohore tsutsu," "musubohoru" is a pivot word joining dew "beading" and a heart "knotted up" and unable to clear. Ending with the continuative "tsutsu," it leaves the lingering sense that the feelings did not loosen all night.
Author: Retired Emperor Kazan
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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