Yūgure wa matsu ni mo kakaru shiratsuyu no okuru ashita ya kie wa hatsuran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夕暮れはまつにもかかる白露の
おくる朝や消えは果つらん

Roma-ji: Yūgure wa matsu ni mo kakaru shiratsuyu no okuru ashita ya kie wa hatsuran
English Translation: In the evening hours
on waiting, as on the pine,
the white dew may cling,
but the morning I send you off,
will I not vanish entirely
Meaning: In the evening my hopes cling to waiting, as white dew clings to the pine; but on the morning when the dew settles and I send you away, surely I will vanish utterly.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 511

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that in the evening she can still pin her hopes on waiting, but on the morning she sends him away she will surely vanish like white dew. To the question of the preceding poem, she answers that the morning of parting is the harder.
It is a reply to the preceding poem by Prince Motoyoshi. Taking up his "matsu yūgure" and "kaeru ashita," she returns "yūgure wa matsu" and "okuru ashita," answering that the pain of the morning of parting is greater.
The poet, called "Fujiwara no Katsumi," was a woman who exchanged poems with Prince Motoyoshi, and few details of her life have come down to us.

The first line, "Yūgure wa," means "in the evening," taking up "matsu yūgure" in the second line of the preceding poem.
In the second line, "matsu" is a pivot word meaning both "to wait" and "pine," overlaying hopes that hang on waiting with dew that clings to the pine branches.
The third line, "shiratsuyu no," means "of the white, glistening dew," an emblem of what quickly vanishes, leading to "oku" in the fourth line and "kie" in the last.
In the fourth line, "okuru" is a pivot word meaning both dew "settling" and "sending" one's lover off, taking up "kaeru ashita" in the fourth line of the preceding poem. "Ya" is an interrogative particle.
The last line, "kie wa hatsuran," means "I will surely vanish utterly," closing with the attributive "ran" in answer to "ya" in the fourth line. "Kie," to vanish, is an associated word with dew.
Author: Fujiwara no Katsumi
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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