classic waka stream

昔だに昔と思ひしたらちねの
なほ恋しきぞはかなかりける
Roma-ji

Mukashi dani mukashi to omoishi tarachine no nao koishiki zo hakanakarikeru

English Translation
Even long ago
I thought of them as of the past,
my parents—and still
that I long for them even now
is a vain and empty thing.
Meaning
Even long ago I thought of my parent as someone of the distant past; that I still long for them now is a vain and fleeting thing.
Commentary
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1815

Headnote: "A poem of longing for the past, from a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the fifth of the poems on the bonds between those close to one another. Even in his youth he thought of his parent as someone of the distant past; that he still longs for them now in old age is vain. It tells of a longing for a parent lost in childhood that does not fade with the years. According to the headnote, it was composed on longing for the past in a hundred-poem sequence.
The author, "Kōtaigōgū no Daibu Shunzei," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. A son of Fujiwara no Toshitada, he compiled the Senzai Wakashū. He was the father of Fujiwara no Teika.

The first line, "mukashi dani," means "even in those days." "Dani" is an adverbial particle meaning "even."
The second line, "mukashi to omoishi," means "whom I thought of as the distant past." Repeating "mukashi" in the first and second lines shows the depth of the distance.
The third line, "tarachine no," here refers to the parent. Following "tarachine" in 1812 of this book, it is a poem longing for a parent.
The fourth line, "nao koishiki zo," means "that I still long for them." The particle "zo" reaches to the last line.
The last line, "hakanakarikeru," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with "keru," the attributive of "keri." Calling his undying longing for his parent vain, he nonetheless shows its depth.
Author
Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source
Shin Kokin Wakashu
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