Kiehatete yaminu bakari ka toshi o hete kimi o omoi no shirushi nakereba - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

消え果てて止みぬばかりか年を経て
君をおもひのしるしなければ

Roma-ji: Kiehatete yaminu bakari ka toshi o hete kimi o omoi no shirushi nakereba
English Translation: Shall I simply die out,
burning down to nothing,
when through the years
my fire of love for you
has brought me nothing at all
Meaning: Am I simply to burn out and be gone, since all these years my love for you, a fire within me, has borne no fruit?
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 517

Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
The poet asks whether, since his years of loving her have borne no fruit, he is simply to die out as a fire goes out. Likening unrequited love to the "hi," fire, within "omoi," love, he appeals with a grief that seems to consume his very life.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman. The next poem is her reply, and the two form a pair of exchanged poems.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Kiehatete," means "dying out entirely," referring to life coming to an end. "Kie," to go out, is an associated word with the "hi," fire, of "omoi" in the fourth line.
The second line, "yaminu bakari ka," means "is it simply to end?" The poem pauses here. It uses the same words as "yaminu bakari ka," which closes 534 in this book.
The third line, "toshi o hete," means "through the years."
In the fourth line, "omoi" is a pivot word meaning both "love" and "fire." "Omoi dani," which opens the next poem, takes this up.
The last line, "shirushi nakereba," means "since it has borne no fruit," giving the reason for the second line in inverted order.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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