Kage ni dani mie mo ya suru to tanomitsuru kai naku koi o masu kagami kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

影にだに見えもやするとたのみつる
かひなく恋をます鏡かな

Roma-ji: Kage ni dani mie mo ya suru to tanomitsuru kai naku koi o masu kagami kana
English Translation: That at least your image
might appear within, I hoped,
but all in vain—
this bright and polished mirror
only polishes my longing
Meaning: I had hoped that at least your reflection might appear in it, but in vain: this clear mirror only made my longing grow.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 805

Headnote: "When he returned a mirror he had borrowed from a woman he had been courting."
The poet says he had hoped her image might at least appear in it, but in vain: it is a mirror that only increases his longing. Wishing to glimpse her in the borrowed mirror, he laments that it has only deepened his yearning.
According to the headnote, the poem accompanied a mirror he returned to a woman he had been courting. 833 in this book also sings of something "seen as an image," there the image of a beloved person.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Kage ni dani," means "if only as a reflection," with "dani" a particle expressing a minimal hope.
The second line, "mie mo ya suru to," means "that it might appear," with "ya" interrogative.
The third line, "tanomitsuru," means "I had relied on it."
The fourth line, "kai naku koi o," means "my longing, to no avail."
The last line, "masu kagami kana," joins "masu," to increase, with "masukagami," a clear mirror, meaning "how this clear mirror only increases my longing." "Kana" expresses emotion.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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