Kagiri arite futae wa kineba fujigoromo namida bakari o kasanetsuru kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

限りありて二重は着ねば藤衣
涙ばかりを重ねつるかな

Roma-ji: Kagiri arite futae wa kineba fujigoromo namida bakari o kasanetsuru kana
English Translation: Since there are limits
and I may not wear in layers
the wisteria robe,
it is only tears instead
that I have layered on
Meaning: Because the rules of mourning forbid wearing two mourning robes at once, it is only tears that I have layered upon my wisteria robe.
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 592

Headnote: "Composed when, while I was in mourning for my mother, the Kii Second-Rank Lady also died"
Composed when, while the poet was in mourning for his own mother, his father's wife, the Kii Second-Rank Lady, Fujiwara no Chōshi, also died. Since there are rules and I cannot wear a double robe, he says, I have layered only tears on my wisteria robe. The rules of mourning forbid wearing mourning robes one over another, yet his sorrows pile up, and in place of a second robe he layers tears, conveying the grief of deaths that come one upon another through the imagery of clothing.
The author, "Fujiwara no Sadanori Ason," was the son of Junior Counselor Fujiwara no Michinori, that is, Shinzei. He was exiled after the Heiji Disturbance and later took the tonsure.
The preceding poem, 591, is the lament of her son Shigenori for the same Kii Second-Rank Lady.

First line, "kagiri arite": "since there are rules" of mourning, a line with an extra syllable. Poem 578 of this book also opens with "kagiri arite," referring to the limit of the mourning period.
Second line, "futae wa kineba": "ne" is the perfective of the negative "zu," and with "ba" gives a reason, "since I do not wear two layers."
Third line, "fujigoromo": mourning dress. It also appears in 548 and 583 of this book.
Fourth line, "namida bakari o": the limiting "bakari," "only tears."
Fifth line, "kasanetsuru kana": "tsuru" is the attributive of the perfective "tsu" and "kana" exclamatory. "Kasane," "layer," is associated with "futae" in the second line and the robe in the third, telling of tears layered in place of mourning robes.
Author: Fujiwara no Sadanori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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