Karehatsuru ozasa ga fushi o omou ni mo sukunakarikeru yoyo no kazu kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

枯れ果つる小笹がふしを思ふにも
少なかりけるよよの数かな

Roma-ji: Karehatsuru ozasa ga fushi o omou ni mo sukunakarikeru yoyo no kazu kana
English Translation: Withered, all withered,
the joints of the dwarf bamboo—
as I think of them,
how few they were, I find,
the nights between us two
Meaning: Thinking of the joints of the dwarf bamboo, now withered away, I find how few they were, the nights that lay between them, the nights we shared.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 821

Headnote: "Composed on behalf of a woman when I served in the Chamberlains' Office in the reign of Emperor Toba"
Composed on behalf of a woman when he served in the Chamberlains' Office in the reign of Emperor Toba. Thinking of the joints of the withered dwarf bamboo, he says, how few were the nights we shared. In the short spaces between the joints of dwarf bamboo he sees how few were the nights they lay together, and through "kare," withering, he sounds the lover's heart having drifted away, conveying the lament of a woman looking back on a love that ended soon.
The author, "Fujiwara no Narichika," was the son of Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Ienari. A close retainer of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor but was exiled after the Shishigatani Affair and died in exile.

First line, "karehatsuru": "utterly withered," with "kare" sounding "kare," a heart drifting away.
Second line, "ozasa ga fushi o": "ozasa" is dwarf bamboo, and "fushi" pivots between the "joints" of the bamboo and "lying" together. The next poem, 822, also places "ozasa ga" in its second line.
Third line, "omou ni mo": "whenever I think of it."
Fourth line, "sukunakarikeru": "keru" is the attributive of "keri" expressing realization, "how few they were."
Fifth line, "yoyo no kazu kana": "yoyo" pivots between "yo," the spaces between bamboo joints, and "yoyo," night after night. "Kana" is an exclamatory particle.
Author: Fujiwara no Narichika
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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