Yo no naka wa makoto futayo wa yukazarashi suginishi imo ni awanaku omoeba

世間はまこと二代はゆかざらし
過ぎにし妹に逢はなく思へば

Roma-ji: Yo no naka wa makoto futayo wa yukazarashi suginishi imo ni awanaku omoeba
English Translation: This world of ours—
truly, not twice over
can one live it through;
for I think how I cannot meet
my love who has passed away
Meaning: Truly, it seems, one cannot live this world through twice—when I think how I can never meet my wife who has passed away.
Commentary: Book Seven Elegies 1410

Headnote: none (Elegies section)
Thinking that he can never again meet his wife who has died, the poet concludes that this world truly cannot be lived twice. Through his wife's death he is made to feel the law of the world that life is given only once.
It is the seventh poem in the elegy section. Following the preceding poem's waiting for the wife who does not return, this one moves from being unable to meet her to reflecting on the law of the world. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "This world of ours," refers to life in this world.
The second line, "truly, not twice over," refers to a second life.
The third line, "can one live it through," is a contraction of "yukazaru rashi," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "my love who has passed away," uses "sugu" (to pass) as a gentle word for dying.
The final line, "for I think how I cannot meet," is inverted and gives the reason for the third line.
Source: Manyoshu
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Next Poem: Sakiwai no ika naru hito ka kurokami no shiroku naru made imo ga koe o kiku