Aratama no toshi no mitose wa utsusemi no munashiki ne o ya nakite kurasamu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あらたまの年の三年はうつせみの
むなしき音をや泣きて暮らさむ

Roma-ji: Aratama no toshi no mitose wa utsusemi no munashiki ne o ya nakite kurasamu
English Translation: The new-jeweled years,
three whole years of them must I
like a cicada's shell
crying out with empty voice
spend my days in weeping
Meaning: Must I spend three whole years like this, crying out in vain, as empty as the shell a cicada leaves behind?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 971

Headnote: "Composed when they had kept exchanging poems in this way for about three years."
The poet asks whether three whole years must be spent weeping in vain like an empty cicada shell. The poem laments, through the cicada crying in vain, that three years have passed with nothing but poems exchanged and no meeting.
According to the headnote, it was composed when the exchange, as in 969 and 970, had gone on for about three years. It takes up "munashiki sora" in the preceding poem as "munashiki ne," and the emptiness of the cicada shell is shared with 896 in this book.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Aratama no," is a pillow word for "toshi," year.
The second line, "toshi no mitose wa," means "the three years."
The third line, "utsusemi no," means "like a cicada's shell," leading to "munashi."
The fourth line, "munashiki ne o ya," means "an empty cry," "ne" being the sound of weeping overlaid with the cicada's song. "Ya" is an interrogative binding particle.
The last line, "nakite kurasamu," means "must I spend my days weeping," closing the "ya" of the fourth line with the attributive "mu."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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