Kazu naranu mi wa ukikusa to narinanan tsurenaki hito ni yorube shirareji - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

数ならぬ身はうき草となりななん
つれなき人に寄るべ知られじ

Roma-ji: Kazu naranu mi wa ukikusa to narinanan tsurenaki hito ni yorube shirareji
English Translation: Worthless as I am,
let me be a drifting weed,
sorrowful and adrift,
so the cold one never learns
where I have come to rest
Meaning: Worthless as I am, I would rather become a drifting weed, so that the cold one never learns where I have come to rest.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 977

Headnote: "Composed when someone had forgotten her."
The poet wishes, worthless as she is, to become a drifting weed, so that the cold one will never learn where she has come to rest. In the pain of being forgotten, she longs to vanish as a rootless floating weed beyond the reach of her cold lover's eyes.
According to the headnote, it was composed when someone had forgotten her. The opening "kazu naranu mi wa" is the same as in 966 in this book.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Kazu naranu," means "of no account," the same first line as 966 in this book.
The second line, "mi wa ukikusa to," means "myself into a floating weed," with "uki" joining "uki," floating, and "uki," wretched.
The third line, "narinanan," means "I wish to become," with "na" the irrealis of the perfective "nu" and "nan" a final particle of desire. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "tsurenaki hito ni," means "by the cold one."
The last line, "yorube shirareji," means "my resting place will not be known," with "ji" a negative conjecture. It overlays the floating weed's lack of any shore to cling to.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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