classic waka stream

世を厭ふ心の深くなるままに
過ぐる月日をうち数へつつ
Roma-ji

Yo o itou kokoro no fukaku naru mama ni suguru tsukihi o uchikazoetsutsu

English Translation
As my heart that loathes
the world grows deeper still,
ever more and more,
I find myself counting up
the months and days that pass.
Meaning
As my heart that loathes the world grows ever deeper, I keep counting the months and days as they go by.
Commentary
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1824

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the second of the poems on loathing the world and the second of five by Jien. As his loathing of the world deepens, he counts the passing months and days one by one. It tells of a heart that grows more conscious of the days remaining as its wish to leave the world grows stronger.
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, "yo o itou," means "loathing and shunning this world."
The second line, "kokoro no fukaku," means "the heart, deeply."
The third line, "naru mama ni," means "as it becomes."
The fourth line, "suguru tsukihi o," means "the passing months and days." Taking up "the days gone by" of the preceding poem, it turns from past to present time.
The last line, "uchikazoetsutsu," means "counting them." Breaking off on "tsutsu," it leaves as an afterimage a heart counting the days as it awaits leaving the world.
Author
Jien
Source
Shin Kokin Wakashu
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