Toshitsuki o ikade waga mi ni okurikemu kinō no hito mo kyō wa naki yo ni - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年月をいかで我が身に送りけむ
昨日の人も今日はなき世に

Roma-ji: Toshitsuki o ikade waga mi ni okurikemu kinō no hito mo kyō wa naki yo ni
English Translation: All these months and years,
how is it I have lived them out
in this self of mine,
in a world where one who lived
yesterday is gone today?
Meaning: How have I managed to live out all these months and years, in a world where someone here yesterday is gone today?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1750

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth of the poems on turning from the world and the third of four by Saigyō. In an impermanent world where someone here yesterday is gone today, how has he lived through so many months and years? He voices wonder and emotion at having survived so long in a world of change.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," is Saigyō. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; he served Retired Emperor Toba as a guard of the Northern Quarters but took vows while young. He traveled the provinces composing poems, and his personal collection is the Sankashū.

The first line, "toshitsuki o," is the long months and years gone by.
The second line, "ikade waga mi ni," means "how is it that I." "Ikade" expresses a question.
The third line, "okurikemu," means "have I spent them?" "Kemu" is an auxiliary of past conjecture closing in the attributive form in answer to "ikade," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "kinō no hito mo," means "someone alive until yesterday." "Yesterday" pairs with "today" in the last line.
The last line, "kyō wa naki yo ni," means "in a world where they are gone today." Through inversion it shows afterward the state of the impermanent world, setting long years against the span of a single day.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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