Waga gotoku mono ya kanashiki kirigirisu kusa no yadori ni koe taezu naku - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わがごとく物や悲しききりぎりす
草の宿りに声絶えず鳴く

Roma-ji: Waga gotoku mono ya kanashiki kirigirisu kusa no yadori ni koe taezu naku
English Translation: Just as I am, is it
that you too are filled with sorrow,
O cricket, so that
in your lodging in the grass
your voice cries without cease
Meaning: Are you as full of sorrow as I am, cricket, that you cry without ceasing in your lodging in the grass?
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 258

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet asks whether the cricket is as full of sorrow as he is, since it cries without ceasing in its lodging in the grass. In the unbroken voice of the insect he finds a sorrow like his own, and calls out to it.
From 254 to 261, this book sets eight untitled poems by Ki no Tsurayuki in a row, turning in order to the voices of autumn insects: the evening cicada, the cricket, and the pine cricket.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokin Wakashū and wrote its kana preface. He served as governor of Tosa among other posts, is known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "Waga gotoku," means "like me," overlaying the insect with the poet himself.
In the second line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "kanashiki": "are you sad?"
The third line, "kirigirisu," calls out, "O cricket." As in the preceding poem, 257, it is set in the third line.
The fourth line, "kusa no yadori ni," means "in your lodging in the grass," pointing to the same clumps of grass as "kusa no ne goto ni" in the preceding poem.
The last line, "koe taezu naku," means "crying without cease," following "koe midarekeri" in the preceding poem in singing of the insect's voice.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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