Izukata ni yo wa narinuran obotsukana akenu kagiri wa aki zo to omowan - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いづ方に夜はなりぬらんおぼつかな
明けぬ限りは秋ぞと思はん

Roma-ji: Izukata ni yo wa narinuran obotsukana akenu kagiri wa aki zo to omowan
English Translation: Toward which way, I wonder,
has the night now turned—
I cannot tell;
so long as dawn has not come
I will think it autumn still
Meaning: How far, I wonder, has the night worn on? I cannot tell—but so long as dawn has not come, I will think it is autumn still.
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 442

Headnote: "On the same last day of the month."
The poet says that one cannot tell how far the night has worn on, but so long as dawn has not come, one will think it still autumn. On the night of the last day of the ninth month, it voices a wish to cherish, even a little longer, the last hours of autumn before winter comes with the dawn.
According to the headnote, it was composed on the same last day of the ninth month as the preceding poem. It is the final poem of the book, closing the autumn poems by marking the end of autumn. Where the opening poem, 351, sang of late-autumn showers, this final poem sings of autumn's last night, so that the beginning and end of the book answer each other.
The poet, called "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū and served as a junior official of Kai and a senior clerk of Izumi, among other posts. Though of low rank, he was ranked alongside Ki no Tsurayuki and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. His "kokoro ate ni oraba ya oramu hatsushimo no" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Izukata ni," means "toward which way," asking how far the night has worn on.
In the second line, "ran" is an auxiliary of present conjecture: "has the night turned so?"
The third line, "obotsukana," is the stem of the adjective "obotsukanashi," uncertain, used as an exclamation. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "akenu kagiri wa," means "so long as dawn has not come."
In the last line, "n" is the attributive form of the auxiliary of intent "mu," forming a kakarimusubi pattern with "zo": "I will think it autumn."
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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