Uki nagara kiesenu mono wa mi narikeri urayamashiki wa mizu no awa kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

憂きながら消えせぬものは身なりけり
うらやましきは水の泡かな

Roma-ji: Uki nagara kiesenu mono wa mi narikeri urayamashiki wa mizu no awa kana
English Translation: Wretched though it is,
the one thing that will not fade
is this self of mine;
what I envy, how I envy,
is the foam upon the water.
Meaning: Though life is so wretched, the one thing that does not vanish is myself. What I envy is the foam upon the water.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1313

Headnote: "After losing her grandchild"
The poet says that what does not vanish, wretched though it is, is her own self, and what she envies is the foam on the water. The headnote shows it was composed after losing a grandchild. Having lost her daughter in the preceding poem, 1312, and now even her grandchild, she says that in her old age she envies the foam that so quickly vanishes, singing of the sorrow of seeing the young go and being left alone alive.
The author, Nakatsukasa, was a daughter of Prince Atsuyoshi, son of Emperor Uda, and Ise. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "uki nagara," means "wretched though it is," with "nagara" concessive.
Second line, "kiesenu mono wa," means "what does not vanish," with "senu" strengthening the negation.
Third line, "mi narikeri," means "is my own self, I find," with "keri" a sigh of realization. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "urayamashiki wa," means "what I envy."
Final line, "mizu no awa kana," means "is the foam on the water," with "kana" exclamatory, setting the foam that vanishes at once against herself, who does not vanish.
Author: Nakatsukasa
Source: Shui Wakashu
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