Tanomu ki mo karehatenureba kannazuki shigure ni nomi mo nururu koro kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

頼む木もかれ果てぬれば神無月
時雨にのみも濡るるころかな

Roma-ji: Tanomu ki mo karehatenureba kannazuki shigure ni nomi mo nururu koro kana
English Translation: The tree I relied on
has withered and fallen away,
in the Godless Month
by the showers alone
these days I am soaked through
Meaning: Since even the tree I relied on has withered away, these days in the tenth month I am only soaked by the showers.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 452

Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
The poet says that since even the tree he relied on has withered away, he is only soaked by the showers of the tenth month these days. In the image of one who has lost the tree that sheltered him from rain, the poem laments the drawing away of the one he depended on, and days spent wet with tears.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman. It appeals to her by likening her withdrawal of affection to the withering of a tree that kept off the rain.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Tanomu ki mo," means "even the tree I relied on," likening the beloved to a tree one shelters under.
In the second line, "kare" is a pivot word meaning both the tree "withering" and the beloved "drawing away."
The third line, "kannazuki," is another name for the tenth lunar month, a word placed again and again in this book.
The fourth line, "shigure ni nomi mo," means "only by the showers," the showers suggesting tears.
In the last line, "kana" is an exclamatory particle: "these days I am only soaked."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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