Kimi kozute toshi wa kureniki tachikaeri haru sae kyō ni narinikeru kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君来ずて年は暮れにき立ちかへり
春さへ今日になりにけるかな

Roma-ji: Kimi kozute toshi wa kureniki tachikaeri haru sae kyō ni narinikeru kana
English Translation: Without your coming,
the year has drawn to its close;
and now it has turned,
even spring has come at last
to this, its final day
Meaning: You never came, and the year ended; now the new year has come round, and even spring has reached its final day.
Commentary: Book Three Spring Poems III 137

Headnote: "To a place where he had always come visiting, he was prevented by circumstances and had not come for a long time, and the year turned; on the last day of the Third Month the following spring, this was sent."
Sending to one who had long failed to visit, the poet says that without his coming the year ended, and now that it has turned, even spring has reached its last day. Laying the year's end over spring's end, he conveys the long months he spent waiting.
According to the headnote, the one who always came visiting was kept away by circumstances, the year turned without a visit, and on the last day of the Third Month the next spring this was sent. 137 and 138 were sent by Fujiwara no Masatada to Ki no Tsurayuki, and 139 and 140 are Tsurayuki's replies.
The poet, Fujiwara no Masatada, was a son of Fujiwara no Kanesuke and served as governor of Suō among other posts. He was the grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu.

In the first line, "zute" is negative: "without your coming."
In the second line, "niki" combines completion and the past: "the year came to an end." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "tachikaeri," means "the year having turned."
In the fourth line, "sae" is additive: "not only the year but even spring ends today." From here poems regretting spring on the last day of the Third Month continue to the end of the book.
In the last line, "kana" expresses a sigh. 141 of this book ends with the same "narinikeru kana."
Author: Fujiwara no Masatada
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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