Toshigoto ni taenu watari ya tsumoritsutsu itodo fukaku wa mi o shizumu ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年ごとに絶えぬ渡やつもりつつ
いとど深くは身を沈むらん

Roma-ji: Toshigoto ni taenu watari ya tsumoritsutsu itodo fukaku wa mi o shizumu ran
English Translation: Year after year,
the tears that never cease to fall
keep on piling up—
is that why ever deeper
I find myself sunk below?
Meaning: Year after year, the tears that never cease keep piling up. Is that why I sink ever deeper?
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 443

Headnote: "Sent to the Lady-in-Waiting Sakon on the morning after the appointments"
The poet wonders whether the tears he sheds unceasingly year after year have piled up, sinking him ever deeper. The headnote shows it was sent to the Lady-in-Waiting Sakon on the morning after the appointments, pleading his grief at having once again failed to receive the post he hoped for, in the form of a self sinking in the depths of tears. Taking up the sinking moon of the two preceding poems, from here follow laments of a self sunk in official life.
The author, written as Motosuke, is Kiyohara no Motosuke. A grandson of Kiyohara no Fukayabu, he was one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber who compiled the Gosenshū and worked on reading the Man'yōshū. The father of Sei Shōnagon, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The second line of the main text reads "taenu watari ya," which does not match "taenu namida ya" in the line giving the reading. The main text is followed here, but the character for "crossing" is thought to be a miscopying of the similar character for "tears," and the translation and commentary follow the meaning of tears given in the reading line.

First line, "toshigoto ni," means "year after year," expressing the long years of disappointment repeated with each round of appointments.
Second line, "taenu watari ya," means "the tears that never cease," with "ya" a questioning particle.
Third line, "tsumoritsutsu," means "piling up and up," with "tsutsu" expressing repetition and continuation.
Fourth line, "itodo fukaku wa," means "ever more deeply," speaking of the depth of the gathered tears.
Final line, "mi o shizumu ran," means "do they sink me," resolving "ya" with the attributive "ran." Taking up the sinking of 441 and the sinking moon of 442, it leads to "the sinking self" of the next poem, 444.
Author: Kiyohara no Motosuke
Source: Shui Wakashu
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