Iwashiro no kami wa shiruran shirube seyo tanomu ukiyo no yume no yukusue - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

岩代の神は知るらん知るべせよ
頼む憂き世の夢の行く末

Roma-ji: Iwashiro no kami wa shiruran shirube seyo tanomu ukiyo no yume no yukusue
English Translation: The god of Iwashiro
surely knows it—be my guide
to what lies ahead,
for I rely on you in this sad world
of dreams, and the path it takes.
Meaning: The god of Iwashiro surely knows—be my guide, I pray, to where it leads, this dream of a sorrowful world on which I place my trust.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1910

Headnote: "A poem found written on the lintel of the worship hall when, on a pilgrimage to Kumano, we rested awhile at the Iwashiro Ōji and had people's names written there."
This is the fifth poem in the sequence on Kumano. Since the god of Iwashiro surely knows, the writer asks to be guided along the path ahead of a life as fleeting as a dream. According to the headnote, it was found written on the lintel of the worship hall when pilgrims to Kumano rested awhile at the Iwashiro Ōji and had people's names written there. The future of a world as fleeting as a dream is entrusted to the god's guidance.
The author is given as "Anonymous," and the name is not recorded.
The Iwashiro Ōji is one of the Ōji shrines along the pilgrimage road to Kumano, at Iwashiro in Kii Province.

The first line, "Iwashiro no," means "of the Iwashiro Ōji."
The second line, "kami wa shiruran," means "the god surely knows," and the poem breaks here.
The third line, "shirube seyo," means "be my guide," and the poem breaks again. "Shiru" in the second line and "shirube" in the third repeat the same word, pressing the plea.
The fourth line, "tanomu ukiyo no," means "of this sorrowful world on which I rely."
The last line, "yume no yukusue," is the future of a life as fleeting as a dream, ending on a noun. Following the Shioya Ōji of the preceding poem, poems composed at the Ōji along the Kumano road stand together. With "yukusue mogana" in poem 1907 of this book and "yukusue no sora" in the next poem, the word "yukusue," "the path ahead," recurs among the Kumano poems.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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