Toshi o hete ikeru kai naki waga mi o ba nani ka wa hito ni ari to shiraren - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年を経て生けるかひなき我が身をば
何かは人にありと知られん

Roma-ji: Toshi o hete ikeru kai naki waga mi o ba nani ka wa hito ni ari to shiraren
English Translation: Through the passing years
I have lived with no purpose,
a life of no worth—
why then should I let others
know that I am still alive
Meaning: I have lived on for years with no reason to be alive. Why should I let anyone know that I am still in this world?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 940

Headnote: "Composed when someone she had been close to, who had not come for a long time, at last came by and asked why it had been so long."
The poet asks why one who has lived on for years with no reason to live should let others know that one is still alive. Asked why there had been no visit for so long, the poet answers in self-abasement that so worthless a person had nothing worth making known.
According to the headnote, someone the poet had been close to failed to visit for a long time and, coming at last, asked why it had been so long, and this was the answer. The excuse for the long absence is entrusted to the frailty of the poet's own life.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Toshi o hete," means "passing the years."
The second line, "ikeru kai naki," means "with no worth in living."
The third line, "waga mi o ba," means "this self of mine," with "o ba" marking the object strongly.
The fourth line, "nani ka wa hito ni," means "why to others," with "ka wa" a rhetorical binding particle.
The last line, "ari to shiraren," means "should I be known to be alive? no," closing the "ka wa" of the fourth line with the attributive.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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