Aware ni mo kureyuku toshi no hikazu kana kaeramu koto wa yo no ma to omou ni - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あはれにも暮れゆく年の日数かな
帰らむことは夜の間と思ふに

Roma-ji: Aware ni mo kureyuku toshi no hikazu kana kaeramu koto wa yo no ma to omou ni
English Translation: How moving they are,
the days still left to count
in the waning year,
when I think that its return
will come within a single night
Meaning: How moving are the few days left in the waning year, when I think that its going will come within a single night.
Commentary: Book Six Winter Poems 471

Headnote: "Composed on the topic of the year's end"
Composed on the topic of the year's end. How moving are the few days left in the waning year, the poet says, when she thinks that its going will come within a single night. It sings of a heart that holds the remaining days dear on realizing that the year will end in the space of one night.
The author, "Sagami," was a lady poet of the mid-Heian period, known by this name because she married Ōe no Kinsuke, Governor of Sagami. She later served Princess Shūshi, daughter of Emperor Ichijō. She is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals of the middle period, and a poem of hers is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The seven poems from 469 to 475, the last poem of the book, are poems on the end of the year. Taking up "toshi no kaeriyuku ran" in 469 of this book, this poem too sings of the year "returning."

First line, "aware ni mo": "aware" is being deeply moved.
Second line, "kureyuku toshi no": "of the year drawing to its end."
Third line, "hikazu kana": "hikazu" is the number of days left, and the exclamatory "kana" pauses the poem here, its order inverted with the lower verse.
Fourth line, "kaeramu koto wa": "kaeru" is for the year to depart, the same view as "kaeriyuku ran" in 469 of this book.
Fifth line, "yo no ma to omou ni": "yo no ma" means "within a single night," the year gone in the one night of New Year's Eve. The poem breaks off, leaving a lingering resonance.
Author: Sagami
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Saritomo to nageki nagekite sugushitsuru toshi mo koyoi ni kurehatenikeri
Next Poem: Kazu naranu mi ni wa tsumoranu toshi naraba kyō no kure o mo nagekazaramashi