Kimi kouru ware mo hisashiku narinureba sode ni namida mo furinuberanari - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君恋ふる我も久しくなりぬれば
袖に涙もふりぬべらなり

Roma-ji: Kimi kouru ware mo hisashiku narinureba sode ni namida mo furinuberanari
English Translation: I who long for you
have grown old in this longing
for so long a time;
the tears that fall on my sleeve
must surely be growing old too.
Meaning: I have longed for you for so long that the tears falling on my sleeve, it seems, are growing old along with me.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 960

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that since I have loved you so long, the tears falling on my sleeve seem about to grow old, as I have. It sings of the weight of long years of love by laying "furu," tears falling, over "furu," growing old.

First line, "kimi kouru," means "longing for you." It begins with the same line as the next poem, 961, "kimi kouru."
Second line, "ware mo hisashiku," means "I too, for a long time."
Third line, "narinureba," means "since it has become so."
Fourth line, "sode ni namida mo," means "the tears upon my sleeve too." Taking up the rain poems that run from 956 in this book, it treats tears as something that falls like rain.
Final line, "furinuberanari," means "seem sure to fall and grow old," with "furi" a pivot word joining "furu," tears falling, and "furu," growing old with the years. "Beranari" is a conjectural expression used in the early Heian period.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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