Nagamureba omoiyarubeki kata zo naki haru no kagiri no yūgure no sora - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ながむれば思ひやるべき方ぞなき
春の限りの夕暮の空

Roma-ji: Nagamureba omoiyarubeki kata zo naki haru no kagiri no yūgure no sora
English Translation: As I gaze lost in thought,
there is no way at all
to ease my heart:
the sky at evening's dusk
on the very last of spring
Meaning: As I gaze, lost in thought, there is no way to ease my heart: the sky at dusk on the very last day of spring.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 124

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the last day of the Third Month"
Like the preceding poem, this was composed on the last day of the Third Month. Gazing in reverie at the evening sky on the day spring ends, the poet finds no way to dispel her sorrow at its passing. Joining a moment in time, spring's last dusk, with the open expanse of the sky, the poem portrays an inexpressible loneliness with rich lingering feeling.
The author, "Princess Shikishi," was the third daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. After serving as Kamo Priestess she took holy orders. She studied poetry with Fujiwara no Shunzei and is known as a leading woman poet of the Shin Kokin era. A poem of hers is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "nagamureba": "nagamu" is to gaze vacantly while lost in thought; with "ba" in the realized condition, "as I gaze."
Second line, "omoiyarubeki": "omoiyaru" means to clear away one's feelings or console the heart.
Third line, "kata zo naki": "kata" is a means or way, and "zo" closes with the attributive "naki": "there is no way to ease it." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "haru no kagiri no": "of the very end of spring," picking up the headnote's last day of the Third Month.
Fifth line, "yūgure no sora": ends on a noun, the evening sky as spring draws to a close, ending with lingering resonance. Where the preceding poem, 123, spoke of the day with "kurasu kyō kana," this one shows the dusk at that day's end.
Author: Princess Shokushi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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