Asanake ni yo no uki koto o shinobitsutsu nagame seshi ma ni toshi wa henikeri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あさなけに世の憂き事をしのびつつ
ながめせし間に年は経にけり

Roma-ji: Asanake ni yo no uki koto o shinobitsutsu nagame seshi ma ni toshi wa henikeri
English Translation: Morning and evening
bearing the sorrows of the world,
enduring them,
while I was lost in brooding thought
the years went slipping by
Meaning: Morning and evening I bore the sorrows of the world in silence, and while I sat lost in brooding thought, the years slipped by.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1174

Headnote: "A woman who had no husband and had lived secluded in a mountain village for years was greeted by someone she had known long ago, who, passing along the road, called in to say, "I haven't heard from you for so long—so this is where you are.""
The poet says that while she bore the sorrows of the world morning and evening and sat lost in brooding thought, the years went by. A woman living alone, secluded in a mountain village without a husband, answers an old acquaintance who has called on her at last by looking back over the quiet years that have passed.
According to the headnote, an old acquaintance passing on the road called in to a woman who had long lived secluded in a mountain village without a husband, saying he had not heard from her in a long time and so this was where she was. Like Ono no Komachi's "Hana no iro wa utsurinikeri na itazura ni waga mi yo ni furu nagame seshi ma ni," it uses the phrase "nagame seshi ma ni."
The poet, written "Tosa," was a lady-in-waiting known by that name, but little more is known of her life.

The first line, "Asanake ni," means "morning and evening, always."
The second line, "yo no uki koto o," means "the sorrows of the world."
The third line, "shinobitsutsu," means "enduring them," with "tsutsu" continuation.
The fourth line, "nagame seshi ma ni," means "while I was lost in thought," with "nagame" vacant brooding.
The last line, "toshi wa henikeri," means "the years have passed," with "keri" the exclamation of realization.
Author: Tosa
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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