Waga koi no kazu o kazoeba amanohara kumori futagari furu ame no goto - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わが恋の数をかぞへば天の原
曇りふたがり降る雨のごと

Roma-ji: Waga koi no kazu o kazoeba amanohara kumori futagari furu ame no goto
English Translation: If I were to count
the many thoughts of my love,
they would be like rain
falling from the plain of heaven,
clouded over and closed in
Meaning: If I tried to count the thoughts of my love, they would be as countless as the drops of rain that fall when the whole wide sky is clouded over and closed in.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 795

Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
The poet says that if he were to count the thoughts of his love, they would be like the rain that falls when the sky is clouded over and closed in. He likens his countless longings to raindrops pouring from an overcast sky, conveying how many and how unceasing they are.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman. It opens Love Poems IV. Where the closing poem, 890, tells of feelings kept hidden like pond water for years without being spoken, this poem entrusts them to rain spilling from the sky, so the beginning and end of the book answer each other through images of water.
The poet, listed as "Toshiyuki Ason," was Fujiwara no Toshiyuki. A son of Fujiwara no Fujimaro, he rose to Captain of the Right Military Guards. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals and a noted calligrapher, his "suminoe no kishi ni yoru nami yoru sae ya" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Waga koi no," means "of my love," treating the thoughts of love as something that can be counted.
The second line, "kazu o kazoeba," means "if I were to count their number," with "kazoe" in the irrealis form and "ba" marking a supposition.
The third line, "amanohara," means the wide expanse of the sky.
The fourth line, "kumori futagari," means "clouded over and closed in." 815 in this book also uses the verb "futagaru" in "kata futagarite."
The last line, "furu ame no goto," means "like falling rain," with "goto" the stem of the comparative auxiliary "gotoshi." 814 in this book likewise likens love's longing to rain, calling the tears that fall with no clear night the thing that pours down.
Author: Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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