Itazura ni kyō ya kurenan atarashiki haru no hajime wa mukashi nagara ni - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いたづらに今日や暮れなむ新しき
春の始めは昔ながらに

Roma-ji: Itazura ni kyō ya kurenan atarashiki haru no hajime wa mukashi nagara ni
English Translation: Will this day as well
fade away to dusk in vain,
though the new spring
has begun its year once more
just as it did of old
Meaning: Will today too darken into evening for nothing—though the beginning of the new spring has come just as it always did?
Commentary: Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1396

Headnote: "Sent on the first day of the First Month of the year after the late emperor was no more."
The poet asks whether today will end in vain, though the beginning of the new spring is just as of old. On New Year's Day of the year after Emperor Daigo's death, he laments that though spring comes round unchanged, a New Year's Day without his lord darkens empty into evening.
According to the headnote, it was sent on the first day of the First Month in the year after the late emperor, Emperor Daigo, had passed away. The next poem is Fujiwara no Kanesuke's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, "the Sanjō Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Sadakata. A son of Fujiwara no Takafuji, he rose to Minister of the Right and was called the Sanjō Minister of the Right. His sister Inshi was the mother of Emperor Daigo, making him the emperor's uncle. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Na ni shi owaba Ausakayama no sanekazura."

The first line, "Itazura ni," means "in vain."
The second line, "kyō ya kurenan," means "will today grow dark," with the interrogative binding particle "ya" closed by the attributive "nan." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "atarashiki," means "new," taken up by "atarashiki ni mo" in the fourth line of the next poem.
The fourth line, "haru no hajime wa," means "the beginning of the new year."
The last line, "mukashi nagara ni," means "just as of old," contrasting with the present without his lord, and inverted with the second line.
Author: Fujiwara no Sadakata
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kiku hito mo aware chō naru wakare ni wa itodo namida zo tsukisezarikeru
Next Poem: Naku namida furinishi toshi no koromode wa atarashiki ni mo kawarazarikeri