Nagekitsutsu hitori nuru yo no akuru ma wa ika ni hisashiki mono to ka wa shiru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

嘆きつつひとり寝る夜の明くる間は
いかに久しきものとかは知る

Roma-ji: Nagekitsutsu hitori nuru yo no akuru ma wa ika ni hisashiki mono to ka wa shiru
English Translation: Grieving all the while,
sleeping alone through the night
until it turns to dawn—
how long that time can be,
do you know? Surely not.
Meaning: Do you have any idea how long the hours can be until dawn, for one who sleeps alone through the night in grief?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 912

Headnote: "When the Lay-Priest Regent came to visit and, since the gate was opened late, sent in word that he was tired of standing there"
The poem says: do you know how long the time is until dawn on a night spent sleeping alone in grief? Surely you do not. To a husband complaining that the gate was opened late, it retorts: can you, who cannot wait even a little while, understand the pain of one who waits every night?
According to the headnote, it was written in answer when the Lay-Priest Regent, Fujiwara no Kaneie, came to visit and, since the gate was opened late, sent in word that he was tired of standing there. The Kagerō Diary also records the circumstances of this poem, but there she is said not to have opened the gate at all and to have sent it attached to a faded chrysanthemum.
The author, "Mother of the Right Major Captain Michitsuna," was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tomoyasu, became the wife of Fujiwara no Kaneie, and bore Michitsuna. She is known as the author of the Kagerō Diary, which records her married life with Kaneie, and is one of the Later Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
It was chosen for the Hyakunin Isshu and is widely known.

First line, "nagekitsutsu," means "while grieving," with "tsutsu" expressing continuation. With the first line of the next poem, 913, "nageki koru," two poems beginning with "nageki" stand side by side.
Second line, "hitori nuru yo no," means "of a night sleeping alone."
Third line, "akuru ma wa," means "the time until it dawns." It contrasts the short time until a gate opens with the long time until night gives way to dawn.
Fourth line, "ika ni hisashiki," means "how long."
Final line, "mono to ka wa shiru," means "do you know? Surely not," with "ka wa" a binding particle expressing a rhetorical question, concluding in the attributive "shiru."
Author: The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna
Source: Shui Wakashu
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