Yo no naka to iitsuru mono ka kagerou no aru ka naki ka no hodo ni zo arikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世の中と言ひつるものかかげろふの
あるかなきかのほどにぞありける

Roma-ji: Yo no naka to iitsuru mono ka kagerou no aru ka naki ka no hodo ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Is this, then, the thing
we have been calling the world—
like the mayfly's life,
so faint it is no more than
there and not there, both at once
Meaning: So this is what we have called the world—like the mayfly, it was a thing so faint one cannot tell whether it is there or not.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems IV 1264

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that what we have called the world was, like the mayfly, a thing barely there at all. Following the white dew of the preceding poem, the poet uses the mayfly to voice a fresh realization of how fleeting the world is.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known.

The first line, "Yo no naka to," means "as the world."
The second line, "iitsuru mono ka," means "is this what we have called it," with "ka" a question tinged with wonder. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "kagerou no," is the mayfly, or heat shimmer, an emblem of transience leading into the fourth line.
The fourth line, "aru ka naki ka no," means "whether there or not there."
The last line, "hodo ni zo arikeru," means "was no more than that," with "zo" closed by the attributive "keru." Poem 1288 of this book likewise ends with "ni zo arikeru."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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