Asu shiranu waga mi to omoedo kurenu ma no kyō wa hito koso kanashikarikere - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

明日知らぬ我が身と思へど暮れぬ間の
今日は人こそ悲しかりけれ

Roma-ji: Asu shiranu waga mi to omoedo kurenu ma no kyō wa hito koso kanashikarikere
English Translation: Though I know my own
life may not see tomorrow,
while the day is bright
and before today has ended,
it is you for whom I grieve.
Meaning: I know that I too may not live to see tomorrow, yet for today, while the sun has not yet set, it is the one who has gone that fills me with sorrow.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 838

Headnote: "Composed when Ki no Tomonori passed away"
This poem was composed on the death of Ki no Tomonori, the poet's cousin and fellow compiler of the Kokinshū. Though he knows he too may die at any time, on this day while he still lives he simply grieves for Tomonori who has gone before. Reason that knows impermanence and feeling that cannot hold back grief stand side by side.
The next poem also mourns Tomonori, and under the same headnote the poems of two compilers stand together.
The author, Ki no Tsurayuki, was the leading compiler of the Kokinshū and wrote its Japanese preface. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.

The first line, "not knowing tomorrow," speaks of the uncertainty of life.
The second line, "though I think of myself," uses the concessive do: "though I think so."
The third line, "before the day ends," stands for the time one remains alive; nu is negative.
The fourth line, "today it is him," uses hito to refer to the dead Tomonori. It pairs with "tomorrow" in the first line and stresses "today."
The last line, "that I grieve," closes in the realis kere after koso.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Sakidatanu kui no yachitabi kanashiki wa nagaruru mizu no kaerikonu nari
Next Poem: Toki shimo are aki ya wa hito no wakaru beki aru o miru dani koishiki mono o