Kiku no ue ni okiiru beku mo aranaku ni chitose no mi o mo tsuyu ni nasu kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

菊の上に置きゐるべくもあらなくに
千歳の身をも露になすかな

Roma-ji: Kiku no ue ni okiiru beku mo aranaku ni chitose no mi o mo tsuyu ni nasu kana
English Translation: Not as though it could
settle and stay upon
the chrysanthemum—
yet even a thousand-year life
is turned to a drop of dew
Meaning: Though dew can never stay upon the chrysanthemum, even a body meant to live a thousand years has been turned to dew.
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 396

Headnote: "On the ninth day of the ninth month, when the crane had died."
The poet says that dew, which can never stay long on the chrysanthemum, has turned even a crane's thousand-year body into dew. On the Double Ninth festival, a day for celebrating long life, it laments the death of the crane, a symbol of longevity, through the fleeting dew.
According to the headnote, it was composed when a crane kept by the poet died on the Double Ninth festival, the ninth day of the ninth month. Where the two poems before it wished for long life through chrysanthemum dew, this one, through the same dew, mourns the crane that should have lived long.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, governor of Ise, and served Fujiwara no Onshi, a consort of Emperor Uda. Favored by Emperor Uda, she bore him a son, and later had a daughter, Nakatsukasa, by Prince Atsuyoshi. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and her "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Kiku no ue ni," means "upon the chrysanthemum."
The second line, "okiiru beku mo," means "that it could stay settled," showing that dew vanishes quickly.
The third line, "aranaku ni," means "though it cannot."
The fourth line, "chitose no mi o mo," means "even the body of a crane said to live a thousand years."
The last line, "tsuyu ni nasu kana," means "it turns it into dew," with "kana" an exclamatory particle. It likens the crane's death to the fleetingness of dew.
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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