Tsu no kuni no nagaraubeku mo aranu kana mijikaki ashi no yo ni koso arikere - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

津の国のながらふべくもあらぬかな
短き葦のよにこそありけれ

Roma-ji: Tsu no kuni no nagaraubeku mo aranu kana mijikaki ashi no yo ni koso arikere
English Translation: In the land of Tsu,
unlike Nagara's name, I cannot
live on long at all;
like the short joints of the reeds
this world of ours is brief.
Meaning: Unlike the name of Nagara in the land of Tsu, I cannot live on long; this world is as short as the joints of the reeds.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1848

Headnote: "When he went to the land of Tsu and saw the reeds at the water's edge."
This is the third of the poems on impermanence. Unlike the name of Nagara in the land of Tsu, one cannot live on long; the world is as short as the joints of a reed. According to the headnote, it was composed on going to Settsu Province and seeing the reeds at the water's edge. Through a place name and a scene of the land of Tsu, he laments the brevity of human life.
The author, "Kazan-in Gyoka," meaning a poem of Retired Emperor Kazan, is Emperor Kazan. A son of Emperor Reizei, he abdicated after about two years on the throne and took vows.
The land of Tsu is Settsu Province, and Nagara is a place name in Naniwa. The reeds of Naniwa were often sung of in poetry.

The first line, "Tsu no kuni no," means "of the land of Tsu," leading to Nagara and the reeds of Naniwa.
In the second line, "nagaraubeku mo," "nagara" is a pivot word meaning both the place name Nagara in the land of Tsu and "living on."
In the third line, "aranu kana," "kana" is exclamatory. He laments that one cannot live on long, and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "mijikaki ashi no," means "of the short reeds." Following the leaf tips of the preceding poem, it turns to reeds at the water's edge.
In the last line, "yo ni koso arikere," "yo" is a pivot word meaning both the space between the joints of a reed and "the world." It closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the realis "kere," ending with the realization that the world is as short as a reed's joint.
Author: Emperor Kazan
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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