Samidare ni nurenishi sode ni itodoshiku tsuyu okisouru aki no wabishisa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

五月雨に濡れにし袖にいとどしく
露置き添ふる秋のわびしさ

Roma-ji: Samidare ni nurenishi sode ni itodoshiku tsuyu okisouru aki no wabishisa
English Translation: On sleeves already
soaked by the rains of early summer,
all the more now
the dew comes to settle—
how desolate is autumn
Meaning: On sleeves already drenched by the early summer rains, the dew of autumn settles all the more—how desolate this autumn is.
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 277

Headnote: "In reply to a letter from the late emperor, when she was at home in mourning for her mother."
The poet laments the desolation of autumn, when dew settles all the more on sleeves already wet with the early summer rains. The tears of grief for her mother are joined by the tears of autumn dew.
According to the headnote, while she was at her family home in mourning for her mother, she received a letter from the late emperor, Emperor Daigo, and composed this in reply. It suggests that she had been in mourning since the season of the early summer rains, and that even in autumn her tears had not dried. The next poem is Emperor Daigo's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, called "the Ōmi Lady of the Wardrobe," is Minamoto no Shūshi. A daughter of Minamoto no Tonau, she became a Lady of the Wardrobe to Emperor Daigo and was the mother of Minamoto no Takaakira, among others.

The first line, "Samidare ni," means "by the long rains of the Fifth Month," overlaid with the tears shed since the mourning began.
In the second line, "ni" marks completion and "shi" is the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki": "on sleeves that have been wet."
The third line, "itodoshiku," means "all the more." 220 of Book Five also opens with "itodoshiku," singing of autumn's desolation laid over brooding.
The fourth line, "tsuyu okisouru," means "the dew settles on top," with the dew standing for tears.
The last line, "aki no wabishisa," ends on a noun so that the desolation lingers. The next poem, 278, answers with "aki wa wabishiki" in its second line.
Author: Minamoto no Shūshi
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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