Toshitsuki wa mukashi ni arazu nariyukedo koishiki koto wa kawarazarikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年月は昔にあらず成りゆけど
恋しきことは変はらざりけり

Roma-ji: Toshitsuki wa mukashi ni arazu nariyukedo koishiki koto wa kawarazarikeri
English Translation: The years and the months
are no longer as of old,
changing as they pass,
yet this longing in my heart
has not changed in the least.
Meaning: The years and months go on changing and are no longer as they were, yet my longing has not changed at all.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 471

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that though the years and months change and are no longer as they were, his longing does not change. Contrasting the changing flow of time with an unchanging heart, he expresses the depth of his yearning for people and days gone by. Following the parting poem vowing reunion in the preceding poem, 470, it sings of feelings unchanged across the years.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "toshitsuki wa," means "the years and months."
Second line, "mukashi ni arazu," means "not as of old."
Third line, "nariyukedo," means "though they go on changing," with "do" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "koishiki koto wa," means "my longing," setting an unchanging heart against the changing years of the upper verse.
Final line, "kawarazarikeri," means "has not changed, I find," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization. Like "masarazarikeri" of 454 in this book, it ends in "zarikeri."
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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