Kaze hayami ogi no ha goto ni oku tsuyu no okure sakidatsu hodo no hakanasa - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

風早み荻の葉ごとに置く露の
おくれ先立つほどのはかなさ

Roma-ji: Kaze hayami ogi no ha goto ni oku tsuyu no okure sakidatsu hodo no hakanasa
English Translation: The wind blows so hard
that on every leaf of the reeds
the dew that settles
scatters, some sooner, some later—
how fleeting is that span.
Meaning: The wind blows so hard that the dew on each reed leaf scatters, some a little later, some a little sooner—how fleeting is that little span!
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1849

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth of the poems on impermanence. The wind blows so hard that the dew on each reed leaf scatters, some later, some sooner; how fleeting is the span between! Laying the order of human deaths over the order in which dewdrops scatter, it speaks of the frailty of lives that vanish either way. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Minister of Central Affairs Prince Tomohira," was a son of Emperor Murakami who served as Minister of Central Affairs. Gifted in learning and Chinese poetry, he was called the Later Prince of Central Affairs.
"Okure sakidatsu," some left behind and some going first, refers to the order of human deaths; it is known from Archbishop Henjō's poem "Sue no tsuyu / moto no shizuku ya / yo no naka no / okure sakidatsu / tameshi naru ramu" ("The dew on the tips and the drops at the roots—are they the pattern of those who go first and those left behind in this world?").

The first line, "kaze hayami," means "since the wind is fierce." The pattern noun + adjective stem + "mi" expresses a cause.
The second line, "ogi no ha goto ni," means "on each leaf of the reeds." Following the reeds of the preceding poem, it turns again to grasses of the waterside and field.
The third line, "oku tsuyu no," means "of the dew that settles." "Oku" echoes "okure" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "okure sakidatsu," means "some left behind, some going first." The order in which the dew scatters is laid over the order of human deaths.
The last line, "hodo no hakanasa," means "how fleeting is that span." Ending on a noun, it shows the frailty of lives that differ only in going sooner or later.
Author: Prince Tomohira
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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