Waga koi no kiyuru ma mo naku kurushiki wa awanu nageki ya moewataruran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わが恋の消ゆる間もなく苦しきは
逢はぬなげきや燃えわたるらん

Roma-ji: Waga koi no kiyuru ma mo naku kurushiki wa awanu nageki ya moewataruran
English Translation: This love of mine
never dies down for a moment,
and the pain of it—
is it the firewood of grief
at not meeting that burns on
Meaning: My love never dies down even for a moment, and the pain never ceases—is it because the firewood of my grief at not meeting you goes on burning?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 989

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet asks whether the reason his love never dies down and the pain never ceases is that his grief at not meeting her goes on burning. Likening love to fire and overlaying the grief of not meeting with "nageki," firewood, he speaks of the pain of a love that burns unceasingly.
From this poem to the closing poem of the book, 993, five poems of exchange between a man and a woman follow one another. Fire words such as dying out, burning and scorching are passed on, then shift to rivers and shallows as the book closes.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Waga koi no," means "of my love," likening love to fire.
The second line, "kiyuru ma mo naku," means "without a moment of dying out," drawing on fire going out.
The third line, "kurushiki wa," means "that it is painful."
The fourth line, "awanu nageki ya," means "the grief of not meeting," with "nageki" joining grief and "nageki," firewood thrown on the fire. "Ya" is an interrogative binding particle.
The last line, "moewataruran," means "does it go on burning," with "ran," a form of "ramu," guessing at a present cause and closing the "ya" of the fourth line with the attributive.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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