Tsuyu bakari tanomeshi hodo no sugiyukeba kienu bakari no kokochi koso sure - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

露ばかり頼めしほどの過ぎゆけば
消えぬばかりの心地こそすれ

Roma-ji: Tsuyu bakari tanomeshi hodo no sugiyukeba kienu bakari no kokochi koso sure
English Translation: The time you gave me
to rely on, like a dew drop,
is slipping away,
and I feel as though I too
am about to fade like dew.
Meaning: As the time you gave me to rely on, slight as a drop of dew, slips past, I feel as though I too might vanish like the dew.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 689

Headnote: "Sent to a woman with whom he had made a promise"
The poem says that as the time the beloved gave him to rely on, slight as a dewdrop, slips past, the poet feels as if he too might vanish like the dew. The headnote shows it was sent to a woman with whom he had exchanged a promise. Using "tsuyu," dew, and "kie," vanish, as associated words, it overlays his anxiety and dismay at a promise fleetingly slipping by with the frailty of dew. The next poem, 690, is the reply to this one.
The author, Sugawara no Sukeaki, was a son of Sugawara no Fumitoki and a great-grandson of Sugawara no Michizane. He was an official and poet of the mid-Heian period.

First line, "tsuyu bakari," means "just a little," dew being sung of as something quick to vanish. It is the same line as the first line of the next poem, 690.
Second line, "tanomeshi hodo no," means "of the time you gave me to rely on," with "tanome," the lower bigrade "tanomu," meaning to make someone rely, and "shi" the attributive form of the past "ki."
Third line, "sugiyukeba," means "as it slips by," with "ba" after the perfective form expressing cause.
Fourth line, "kienu bakari no," means "as though about to vanish," with "nu" perfective. It forms an associated word with "tsuyu" in the first line.
Final line, "kokochi koso sure," means "is how I feel," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective form "sure."
Author: Sugawara no Sukeaki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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