Ika ni shite kyō o kurasamu Koyurugi no isogi idete mo kai nakarikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにして今日を暮らさむ小余綾の
いそぎ出でてもかひなかりけり

Roma-ji: Ika ni shite kyō o kurasamu Koyurugi no isogi idete mo kai nakarikeri
English Translation: However shall I
live through the length of this day?
Like Koyurugi's shore,
I hurried out in haste, and yet
there was no shell, no worth at all.
Meaning: How am I to get through this day? I hurried out, as quick as the waves on Koyurugi's shore, and it was all for nothing.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 852

Headnote: "When the Ichijō Regent said, "It is awkward in the palace; go out to your home," and she waited for him in a place where no one was about, but he did not come"
The poem laments that though she hurried out of the palace to wait, he did not come and it was all in vain; how shall she pass this day? From the poetic place-name "the shore of Koyurugi" in Sagami it draws out "isogi," hurrying, and lets "kai" echo shells by association with the shore, singing the disappointment of waiting in vain.
According to the headnote, the Ichijō Regent, Fujiwara no Koretada, told her that the palace was awkward with so many eyes about and that she should withdraw to her home; she waited in a place where no one was about, but he did not come. The poem carries the bitterness and forlornness of having hurried out as told, only to go unrewarded.
The author, "Shōni no Myōbu," was a lady-in-waiting at court also called Shigeno no Naishi; the name is thought to derive from the post of assistant governor held by her father or husband.

First line, "ika ni shite," means "how," showing a mind at a loss.
Second line, "kyō o kurasamu," means "shall I pass this day," with "mu" conjectural. The poem breaks here.
Third line, "Koyurugi no," names the shore of Koyurugi, a poetic place in Sagami Province, and leads by sound to "isogi," echoing "iso," shore.
Fourth line, "isogi idete mo," means "even though I hurried out," with "isogi" a pivot word joining "iso," the shore of Koyurugi, and "isogi," hurrying.
Final line, "kai nakarikeri," means "it was all for nothing," with "kai" joining "worth" and "shell," a word associated with the shore. "Keri" expresses exclamation.
Author: Shōni no Myōbu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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