Ima wa tote kozue ni kakaru utsusemi no kara o mimu to wa omowazarishi o - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今はとて梢にかかる空蝉の
からを見むとは思はざりしを

Roma-ji: Ima wa tote kozue ni kakaru utsusemi no kara o mimu to wa omowazarishi o
English Translation: Saying, "This is the end,"
like a cicada's shell
caught on the treetop,
that I'd see what you left behind
I never once imagined
Meaning: I never imagined that, saying this is the end, I would be looking at what you left behind, like the empty shell of a cicada clinging to the treetop.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 803

Headnote: "When she returned his robes and other things to a man who had grown cold, saying this was the end."
The poet says she never thought she would look upon a cast-off shell like a cicada's clinging to a treetop, now that all was over. Comparing the robes left by a man grown cold to a cicada's empty shell, she laments a love that has ended in hollowness.
According to the headnote, the poem accompanied the robes and other things she sent back to a man who had become unkind, declaring their affair over. The next poem, 804, is the reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, listed as "daughter of Taira no Nakaki," was the daughter of Taira no Nakaki, an official who served as a provincial governor among other posts. The Tales of Yamato tells of her love affair with the monk Jōzō.

The first line, "Ima wa tote," means "saying this is the end," expressing her resolve to part. 853 in this book likewise opens with "ima wa tote."
The second line, "kozue ni kakaru," means "clinging to the treetop."
The third line, "utsusemi no," means "of a cicada's cast-off shell," a figure for a love emptied of substance.
The fourth line, "kara o mimu to wa," means "that I would see the shell," "kara" joining the cicada's "shell" with "kara," Chinese-style robe, pointing to the robes she returns.
The last line, "omowazarishi o," means "I never thought," with "o" adversative, leaving a lingering resonance.
Author: Daughter of Taira no Nakaki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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