Yo no naka o tsune naki mono to kikishikado tsuraki koto koso hisashikarikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世の中を常なきものと聞きしかど
つらきことこそ久しかりけれ

Roma-ji: Yo no naka o tsune naki mono to kikishikado tsuraki koto koso hisashikarikere
English Translation: This world of ours, I heard,
is a thing that never lasts,
so I was told,
yet your coldness, I find,
is what endures so long.
Meaning: I had heard that nothing in this world endures, yet it is your coldness alone that lasts so long.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1259

Headnote: "In the Engi era, when the Azechi Miyasudokoro had long been in disfavor, she sent this to the Emperor through his nurse"
The poet says she had heard that nothing in the world endures, yet only the cold treatment lasts so long. The headnote shows that in the reign of Emperor Daigo, when the Azechi Miyasudokoro had long been under the emperor's displeasure, she presented this through the emperor's nurse. In a world where all things should change, she laments that the emperor's displeasure alone never fades, and pleads for his forgiveness. The next poem, 1260, is the emperor's reply.
There is no settled view as to whom the author's title, "Azechi no Miyasudokoro," refers. It is a name for a woman favored by the emperor, taken from the post of inspector, azechi, held by her father, and she served Emperor Daigo.

First line, "yo no naka o," means "this world."
Second line, "tsune naki mono to," means "as a thing impermanent," the Buddhist idea that all things change. It shares this line with the second line of the next poem, 1260, "tsune naki mono to."
Third line, "kikishikado," means "though I had heard," with "shika" the perfective form of the past auxiliary "ki" and "do" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "tsuraki koto koso," means "your coldness indeed," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective "kere" in the final line. It shares the word "tsuraki" with the first line of the next poem, 1260, "tsuraki o ba."
Final line, "hisashikarikere," means "lasts so long," with "kere" the perfective form of the exclamatory auxiliary "keri." It pairs with "tsune naki" in the second line.
Author: Azechi no Miyasudokoro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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