Ware nomi ya kono yo wa uki to omoedomo kimi mo nageku to kiku zo kanashiki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我のみやこの世は憂きと思へども
君も嘆くと聞くぞ悲しき

Roma-ji: Ware nomi ya kono yo wa uki to omoedomo kimi mo nageku to kiku zo kanashiki
English Translation: Am I the only one,
I had thought, who finds this world
so full of sorrow?
To hear that you too must grieve,
that is what is sad for me.
Meaning: I had wondered whether I alone found this world so sorrowful, yet to hear that you too are grieving is what makes me sad.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1305

Headnote: "When she had sent condolences from Tsukushi on hearing that the consort, daughter of Major Counselor Asamitsu, had died, and around that time her own son Chikashige, Assistant of the Bureau of Horses, died"
The poet says she had wondered whether she alone found the world sorrowful, but it is sad to hear that he too is grieving. The headnote shows that while in Tsukushi, on hearing that the consort, daughter of Major Counselor Fujiwara no Asamitsu, had died, she sent condolences, and around then her own son Chikashige, Assistant of the Bureau of Horses, died too. As one who has also lost a child, she lays her own grief and Asamitsu's side by side. The next poem, 1306, is Asamitsu's reply.
The author, the Wife of Fujiwara no Tomomasa, was the wife of Fujiwara no Tomomasa, of whom little is known.

First line, "ware nomi ya," means "am I alone," with the binding particle "ya" expressing a question.
Second line, "kono yo wa uki to," means "that this world is sorrowful." It shares "uki" with the first line of the next poem, 1306, "ukiyo ni wa."
Third line, "omoedomo," means "though I thought," with "domo" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "kimi mo nageku to," means "that you too grieve," speaking of Asamitsu, who lost his daughter.
Final line, "kiku zo kanashiki," means "it is sad to hear," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "kanashiki," the attributive form of the adjective. It shares this line with the final line of 1278 in this book.
Author: Wife of Fujiwara no Tomomasa
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Nayotake no waga ko no yo o ba shirazu shite ōshitatetsu to omoikeru kana
Next Poem: Ukiyo ni wa aru mi mo ushi to nagekitsutsu namida nomi koso furu kokochi sure