Ikaga subeki yo ni araba ya wa yo o mo sutete anau no yo ya to sara ni omowamu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかがすべき世にあらばやは世をも捨てて
あな憂の世やとさらに思はむ

Roma-ji: Ikaga subeki yo ni araba ya wa yo o mo sutete anau no yo ya to sara ni omowamu
English Translation: What am I to do?
Were I still living in the world,
I would cast it off,
and think anew, "Ah, this world,
how wretched it is to live in!"
Meaning: What am I to do? If I were still living in the world, I could cast it off and think anew, "Ah, how wretched this world is!"
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1830

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the eighth of the poems on loathing the world and the third of four by Saigyō. What is he to do? Were he still living in the world, he could renounce it and think anew, "Ah, how wretched the world is!" Having already left the world, he has no world left to cast away, and no outlet for the sorrow that still remains.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," is Saigyō. 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. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem.

The first line, "ikaga subeki," means "what am I to do?" Its six syllables, one over the norm, press his bewilderment, and the poem pauses here.
The second line, "yo ni araba ya wa," means "if I were in the world." "Ya wa" is a rhetorical particle answering the attributive "omowamu" in the last line.
The third line, "yo o mo sutete," means "casting off the world." It has six syllables, one over the norm.
The fourth line, "anau no yo ya to," means "thinking, 'Ah, how wretched a world.'" "Ana" is an interjection and "u" the stem of the adjective "ushi."
The last line, "sara ni omowamu," means "I could think anew." The irregular rhythm with its repeated extra syllables shows his perplexity at the sorrow that remains even after renouncing the world.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mi no usa o omoishirade ya yaminamashi somuku narai no naki yo nariseba
Next Poem: Nanigoto ni tomaru kokoro no arikereba sara ni shimo mata yo no itowashiki