Uchinarasu kane no oto ni ya nagaki yo mo akenu nari to wa omoishiruran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

打ち鳴らす鐘の音にや長き夜も
明けぬなりとは思ひ知るらん

Roma-ji: Uchinarasu kane no oto ni ya nagaki yo mo akenu nari to wa omoishiruran
English Translation: By the temple bell
that we strike and set ringing,
will they come to know
that now even the long night
has finally given way to dawn?
Meaning: Will the departed, hearing the temple bell we ring, come to know that even the long night of delusion has at last broken into dawn?
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 577

Headnote: "Composed when, serving as officiant at someone's memorial service, I read the prayer text, and a poem had been sent"
Composed when the poet, invited as officiant at a Buddhist service held by someone, read the prayer text and responded to a poem sent by the patron. Will the departed know by the sound of the bell we ring, he asks, that even the long night has dawned? Likening the bell of the service to a bell announcing dawn, he prays that the dead will emerge from the long darkness of delusion and reach enlightenment.
The author, "the Monk Keihan," was a monk of the late Heian period, but little is known of his life.
Poem 597 of this book also sings of the sound of the service bell in "kyō uchinarasu kane no oto ni."

First line, "uchinarasu": "striking the bell" at the service. It is the same word as "kyō uchinarasu" in the second line of 597 of this book.
Second line, "kane no oto ni ya": the interrogative "ya" closes with the attributive "ran" in the last line.
Third line, "nagaki yo mo": the "long night" is the long night of ignorance, likening the world of delusion to night, with a hint of the long nights of autumn.
Fourth line, "akenu nari to wa": "nu" is perfective and "nari" an evidential inferring from sound, "it seems dawn has come," known by hearing the bell.
Fifth line, "omoishiruran": the present conjectural "ran," "will the departed come to realize it?"
Author: Keihan
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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