Inishie o sara ni kakeji to omoedomo ayashiku me ni mo mitsu namida kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへをさらにかけじと思へども
あやしく目にも満つ涙かな

Roma-ji: Inishie o sara ni kakeji to omoedomo ayashiku me ni mo mitsu namida kana
English Translation: Though I tell myself
never more to dwell upon
the days of the past,
strangely, even in my eyes,
how the tears well up and fill!
Meaning: Though I tell myself never again to dwell on the days that are gone, strangely the tears still well up and fill my eyes.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 991

Headnote: "When the Consort, daughter of the Minister of the Left, had passed away, he sent this to her father, the Minister"
The poem says: though I resolve never again to dwell on the past, strangely, tears well up and fill my eyes. In tears that overflow beyond restraint even as he tries not to recall the days with the late consort, deep grief and tender regret are revealed.
According to the headnote, it was sent to her father, the minister, when the consort who was the daughter of the Minister of the Left had died. The Minister of the Left was Fujiwara no Saneyori and the consort his daughter Jutsushi, who became a consort of Emperor Murakami but died young. The emperor seeks to share with her father his grief for the departed consort.
The author, "Tenryaku Gyosei," is Emperor Murakami, a son of Emperor Daigo whose reign was praised as the Tenryaku era of good rule. He ordered the compilation of the Gosenshū and held the Tentoku Palace Poetry Contest of the fourth year of Tentoku.

First line, "inishie o," means "the past," pointing to the days spent with the late consort. It shares the word with the third line of 965 in this book, "inishie mo."
Second line, "sara ni kakeji to," means "never to dwell on," with "sara ni" meaning "never" in concert with the negative and "ji" a negative intention.
Third line, "omoedomo," means "though I think so," adversative.
Fourth line, "ayashiku me ni mo," means "strangely, in my eyes as well."
Final line, "mitsu namida kana," means "how the tears well up and fill," with "kana" exclamatory. Within this book of love, it sings of tears of mourning for one who has died.
Author: Emperor Murakami
Source: Shui Wakashu
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