Kimi nakute tatsu asagiri wa fujigoromo ike sae kiru zo kanashikarikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君なくて立つ朝霧は麻衣
池さへきるぞ悲しかりける

Roma-ji: Kimi nakute tatsu asagiri wa fujigoromo ike sae kiru zo kanashikarikeru
English Translation: With you gone from us,
the morning mist that rises
is a mourning robe;
even the pond is wearing it,
and how sorrowful that is.
Meaning: Now that you are gone, the morning mist that rises is like a mourning robe. Even the pond wears it, and that is so sad.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1288

Headnote: "On seeing mist spread across the surface of the pond at the retired emperor's palace at the forty-ninth-day service for the Suzaku-in"
The poet says that the morning mist rising now that the lord is gone is like a mourning robe, and it is sad that even the pond wears it. The headnote shows it was composed at the forty-ninth-day memorial service, on seeing mist spread over the surface of the pond at that retired emperor's palace. Taking the gray mist covering the pond for a mourning robe and pivoting on "kiru," to mist over and to wear, he sings that not only people but even the palace pond mourns its master.
As for the Suzaku-in of the headnote, the author Atsutada died in Tengyō 6 (943), before the death of Retired Emperor Suzaku, so there are differing views as to whose forty-ninth day is meant.
The author, written as "Provisional Middle Counselor Atsutada," is Fujiwara no Atsutada. A son of the Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Tokihira, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets and is known for his poem "aimite no" in the Hyakunin Isshu.
The third line of the main text is written "麻衣," hemp robe, while the reading line has "fujikoromo." Taking it as a word for a mourning robe, the reading follows the reading line.

First line, "kimi nakute," means "with you gone," the retired emperor who has died.
Second line, "tatsu asagiri wa," means "the morning mist that rises."
Third line, "fujigoromo," means "a mourning robe," taking the mist for one. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "ike sae kiru zo," is a pivot word: "kiru" means the mist "spreading" and "wearing" a mourning robe. "Sae" means "even the pond," not only people. The binding particle "zo" is resolved by the attributive "keru" in the final line.
Final line, "kanashikarikeru," means "how sad it is," with "keru" the attributive form of the exclamatory "keri."
Author: Fujiwara no Atsutada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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