Mutsugoto mo mada tsukinaku ni akenu meri izura wa aki no nagashi chō yo wa - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

睦言もまだ尽きなくに明けぬめり
いづらは秋の長してふ夜は

Roma-ji: Mutsugoto mo mada tsukinaku ni akenu meri izura wa aki no nagashi chō yo wa
English Translation: Our tender whispers
have not yet been spoken through,
yet dawn seems to break—
where, then, is that autumn night
that people say is so long?
Meaning: Our lovers' talk is not yet spent, and already the night seems to have ended. Where, then, is that famous long night of autumn?
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1015

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Autumn nights are said to be long, yet a night of lovers' talk ends in an instant; the poem wittily challenges the common saying. Inverting the fourth and fifth lines and pressing the question "izura wa," where is it, gives the poem its haikai tone.
The author, "Ōshikōchi Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he held provincial posts in Kai and Izumi. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "Mutsugoto mo," refers to intimate talk between lovers.
Second line, "mada tsukinaku ni," uses "naku ni," a concessive negative: though it is not yet spent.
Third line, "akenu meri," combines perfective "nu" with the inferential "meri": it seems to have dawned. The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "izura wa aki no," uses "izura," where, to press the question.
Fifth line, "nagashi chō yo wa," contains "chō," a contraction of "to iu." The fourth and fifth lines are inverted: where is the night called long?
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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