Momohagaki hane kaku shigi mo waga gotoku ashita wabishiki kazu wa masaraji - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

百羽がき羽かく鴫も我がごとく
朝わびしき数はまさらじ

Roma-ji: Momohagaki hane kaku shigi mo waga gotoku ashita wabishiki kazu wa masaraji
English Translation: Even the snipe that
beats its wings a hundred times,
as I do my grief,
could not count as many sorrows
as I count each dawn that comes.
Meaning: Even the snipe that beats its wings a hundred times could not outnumber the sorrows I count each morning.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 724

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that even the snipe, said to beat its wings a hundred times, could not outnumber the morning sorrows the poet counts. It takes as its source the Kokinshū poem "akatsuki no shigi no hanegaki momohagaki kimi ga konu yo wa ware zo kazu kaku," in which the lover counts the nights the beloved does not come as the snipe counts its wingbeats at dawn. Where the source poem counted nights the beloved did not come, this poem counts the sorrow of each morning after a meeting.
The author, written as "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. He was the leading compiler of the Kokinshū, wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "momohagaki," means "beating the wings again and again, a hundred times," taking up "momohagaki" from the source poem.
Second line, "hane kaku shigi mo," means "even the snipe beating its wings," the snipe being said to beat its wings many times at dawn.
Third line, "waga gotoku," means "as I do."
Fourth line, "ashita wabishiki," means "sorrowful in the morning," speaking of the pain of parting the morning after.
Final line, "kazu wa masaraji," means "would not surpass in number," with "ji" an auxiliary of negative conjecture. Taking up "kazu kaku," to count, from the source poem, it compares the number of sorrows with the snipe's wingbeats.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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