Yoi no ma mo matsu ni kokoro ya nagusamu to ima kon to dani tanomeokanan - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

宵の間も待つに心や慰むと
今来んとだに頼めおかなん

Roma-ji: Yoi no ma mo matsu ni kokoro ya nagusamu to ima kon to dani tanomeokanan
English Translation: So that at least
through the evening, waiting
may console my heart,
if only "I will come soon,"
leave me those words to trust
Meaning: So that at least through the evening my heart may be consoled by waiting, leave me those words to trust, if only "I will come soon."
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 803

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the heart of love when hundred-poem sequences were presented"
Like the preceding poem, a love poem from the Kyūan sequences. So that my heart may find comfort at least in waiting through the evening, she says, let me rely on at least the words "I will come soon." It draws on the Kokinshū poem by the monk Sosei, "Because you said you would come soon, I waited until the moon of dawn in the Long Month rose." Sosei's poem is the lament of a woman who waits till dawn relying on the words "I will come soon," while this one, from one who does not even receive such words, wishes for a single phrase to wait upon, even if it be false.
The author, "Jōsaimon'in no Hyōe," was the daughter of Minamoto no Akinaka, Head of the Council of Divinities. A younger sister of Taikenmon'in no Horikawa, she served Taikenmon'in and later her daughter, Princess Muneko, Jōsaimon'in. She was one of the poets of the Kyūan sequences.
The preceding poem worries over a lover's heart on the morning after meeting, while this one seeks something to wait upon for a lover who has not yet come, so that unease after meeting and longing before it stand side by side.

First line, "yoi no ma mo": "at least through the evening."
Second line, "matsu ni kokoro ya": "ya" is an interrogative particle, "by waiting, my heart," binding with "nagusamu" in the third line.
Third line, "nagusamu to": the conclusion of "ya," "thinking it may be comforted."
Fourth line, "ima kon to dani": "ima kon" means "I will come soon," drawing on "ima komu to" in the first line of Sosei's poem. "Dani" marks a minimal wish, "at least that much."
Fifth line, "tanomeokanan": "tanomeoku" is to give someone something to rely on in advance, and "nan" a final particle of wish directed at another, "please let me rely on it."
Author: Jōsaimon'in no Hyōe
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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