Katsu mitsutsu kage hanareyuku mizu no omo ni kaku kazu naranu mi o ika ni sen - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かつ見つつ影はなれゆく水の面に
かく数ならぬ身をいかにせん

Roma-ji: Katsu mitsutsu kage hanareyuku mizu no omo ni kaku kazu naranu mi o ika ni sen
English Translation: Even as I watch,
your image drifts away
on the water's face,
where one writes numbers—so I count
for nothing; what shall I do?
Meaning: Even as I watch, your figure drifts away like a reflection on the water; what am I to do with myself, counting for so little, like numbers written on its surface?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 879

Headnote: "In the reign of Tenryaku, when the emperor passed in front of the Shōkyōden and went on to another lady's apartments"
Likening the figure of the emperor, passing before her eyes and growing distant, to a reflection drifting away from the surface of the water, the poem laments: what shall I do with this self that counts for nothing? It sings of the sorrow of watching the emperor's favor shift to another consort and being powerless to do anything.
According to the headnote, it was written when Emperor Murakami passed in front of the Shōkyōden, where the author lived, and went on to another consort's palace. The humiliation and loneliness of being passed by at her own door are folded into its restrained words.
The author, "Saigū no Nyōgo," is Princess Kishi, daughter of Prince Shigeakira, a son of Emperor Daigo. After serving as Ise Priestess she became a consort of Emperor Murakami and bore Princess Noriko. She lived in the Shōkyōden and was also called the Shōkyōden Consort. She is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "katsu mitsutsu," means "even as I watch," with "tsutsu" expressing continuation. It shows the poet watching the emperor's figure pass before her.
Second line, "kage hanareyuku," means "the figure draws away." Likening the emperor to a reflection on the water, it expresses favor slipping away. It shares the image reflected on water with the final line of 875 in this book, "kage ya miyuru to."
Third line, "mizu no omo ni," means "on the surface of the water," leading to the futile act of writing numbers on water.
Fourth line, "kaku kazu naranu," means "thus counting for nothing," with "kaku" a pivot word joining writing numbers on water and "kaku," thus. It shares the pairing of "kazu" and "kaku" with the fourth line of the preceding poem, 878, "kazu kaku bakari."
Final line, "mi o ika ni sen," means "what shall I do with myself," with "n" conjectural. It closes in helpless bewilderment.
Author: Princess Kishi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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