Ika ni shite ima made yo ni wa ariake no tsukisenu mono o itou kokoro wa - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにして今まで世にはありあけの
つきせぬものを厭ふ心は

Roma-ji: Ika ni shite ima made yo ni wa ariake no tsukisenu mono o itou kokoro wa
English Translation: How is it that I
have remained here in the world
like the moon at dawn,
when there is no end at all
to this heart that loathes the world?
Meaning: How is it that I have lingered in this world until now like the moon at dawn, when the heart that loathes it never comes to an end?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1783

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "From among fifty poems."
This is the third of the poems on the heart through the moon, and the second of three by Jien. Though his heart that loathes the world never ends, how has he lingered in it until now like the moon at dawn? He sees himself, living on while loathing the world, in the moon that stays in the sky after daybreak.
The author, "Former Archbishop Jien," is Jien. 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. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem.

The first line, "ika ni shite," means "how, why."
The second line, "ima made yo ni wa," means "until now in this world."
In the third line, "ariake no," "ari" is a pivot word meaning both "being" in the world and the dawn moon, "ariake." He lays the self that remains in the world over the moon that remains in the sky after daybreak.
In the fourth line, "tsukisenu mono o," "tsuki" is a pivot word meaning both "ending" and the "moon" of "ariake." "Mono o" expresses a concessive sigh.
The last line, "itou kokoro wa," means "the heart that loathes the world." Through inversion it shows last that what never ends is that loathing heart. Following the clear moon of the preceding poem, the dawn moon appears.
Author: Jien
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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