Kagiri areba kyō nugisutetsu fujigoromo hate naki mono wa namida narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

限りあれば今日脱ぎ捨てつ藤衣
果てなきものは涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Kagiri areba kyō nugisutetsu fujigoromo hate naki mono wa namida narikeri
English Translation: Since there is a limit,
today I have cast it off,
the wisteria robe;
the one thing that has no end,
I find, is my falling tears.
Meaning: Because mourning has its limit, today I have cast off my wisteria robe; but the one thing that has no end, I find, is my tears.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1293

Headnote: "On taking off mourning for Lord Kōtoku"
The poet says that because mourning has its limit he has cast off the mourning robe today, yet what has no end is his tears. The headnote shows it was composed on taking off mourning at the end of the period for his father, Lord Kōtoku, Fujiwara no Tamemitsu. Tamemitsu died in Shōryaku 3 (992). Setting the mourning period, which ends by rule, against tears that never end, through "kagiri," limit, and "hate naki," endless, he sings plainly of grief for his father that never runs out. It is widely known as a poem of the end of mourning.
Poems 1291 through 1293 are a group composed on taking off mourning clothes at the end of the period of mourning. All of them sing of the wisteria robe and share the feeling that though the mourning robe is put away, the tears do not end.
The author, Fujiwara no Michinobu, was a son of Fujiwara no Tamemitsu and was adopted by Fujiwara no Kaneie. He excelled at poetry but died in Shōryaku 5 (994) at the age of twenty-three. He is one of the Thirty-Six Later Immortal Poets and is known for his poem "akenureba" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "kagiri areba," means "since there is a set limit" to mourning, with "ba" after the perfective form expressing cause. It pairs with "hate naki" in the final line.
Second line, "kyō nugisutetsu," means "today I have cast it off," with "tsu" a perfective auxiliary.
Third line, "fujigoromo," means "the mourning robe," the same word as the first lines of 1291 and the preceding poem, 1292. The poem breaks after this third line, which ends on a noun.
Fourth line, "hate naki mono wa," means "what has no end."
Final line, "namida narikeri," means "is my tears, I find," with "keri" a sigh of realization.
Author: Fujiwara no Michinobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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