Tanomikoshi waga furudera no koke no shita ni itsushika kuchimu na koso oshikere - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

頼みこし我が古寺の苔の下に
いつしか朽ちむ名こそ惜しけれ

Roma-ji: Tanomikoshi waga furudera no koke no shita ni itsushika kuchimu na koso oshikere
English Translation: In my old temple
that I have relied upon,
beneath the moss there,
sooner or later my name
will rot away—how I grieve.
Meaning: Beneath the moss of the old temple I have long relied upon, my name will rot away before long, and this I regret.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1741

Headnote: "Composed at Mudōji when I was unwell."
A poem from a sickbed, thinking of death. He regrets that his name will before long rot away beneath the moss of the old temple he has relied upon. According to the headnote, it was composed at Mudōji when he was ill; imagining the day he will be buried at the temple where he long practiced, he regrets that his name will decay along with his body.
The author, "Former Archbishop Jien," is Jien. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. He was a son of Fujiwara no Tadamichi and younger brother of Kujō Kanezane; he served four times as Tendai abbot and wrote the historical treatise Gukanshō.
Mudōji is a temple in the Mudōji valley, south of the Eastern Precinct of Mount Hiei.

The first line, "tanomikoshi," means "that I have relied on." "Ko" is the irrealis of the verb "ku," to come, and "shi" the attributive of the past "ki," telling of long years of reliance.
The second line, "waga furudera no," is the temple long lived in, that is, Mudōji.
The third line, "koke no shita ni," means "beneath the moss," in the grave. Its six syllables, one more than the norm, give weight to the place of burial.
The fourth line, "itsushika kuchimu," means "will rot away before one knows it." "Mu" is conjectural.
The last line, "na koso oshikere," closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the realis form of the adjective "oshikere." Following the preceding poem's lament at having nowhere to be, it grieves that his name will vanish as his body decays.
Author: Jien
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Yo no naka no hareyuku sora ni furu shimo no ukimi bakari zo okidokoro naki
Next Poem: Kurikaeshi waga mi no toga o motomureba kimi mo naki yo ni meguru narikeri