Nagaraemu to shimo omowanu tsuyu no mi no sasuga ni kiemu koto o koso omoe - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

長らへむとしも思はぬ露の身の
さすがに消えむことをこそ思へ

Roma-ji: Nagaraemu to shimo omowanu tsuyu no mi no sasuga ni kiemu koto o koso omoe
English Translation: Though I do not wish
to live on in this dew-like life,
not even that much,
still, it seems, I cannot help
but think of fading away.
Meaning: I have no wish to linger on in this dewdrop of a life, and yet I cannot help thinking of how it will fade away.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1736

Headnote: "Sent thus by someone who was ill."
This is the first of an exchange on a life like dew. Though the speaker has no wish to live on in this dewlike life, still the thought of vanishing will not go away. According to the headnote, someone who was ill sent these words; the poem frankly speaks of a heart that wavers even while resigned to death.
The author is given as "Anonymous," and the name has not come down. According to the headnote, it was someone on a sickbed.

The first line, "nagaraemu to," means "to live on." "Mu" expresses intention.
In the second line, "shimo omowanu," "shimo" is an emphatic particle, meaning "not especially wishing."
The third line, "tsuyu no mi no," is a life as fleeting as dew. Taking up the dew of the fern poems before it, dew here becomes a figure for the brevity of life. The next poem opens with the same "tsuyu no mi no."
The fourth line, "sasuga ni kiemu," means "that it will after all vanish." "Kiyu," to vanish, is an associated word for dew and means to die.
The last line, "koto o koso omoe," closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the realis "omoe." It states strongly a heart that, though resigned, cannot help thinking of death.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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