Ika ni sen sarade ukiyo wa nagusamazu tanomishi tsuki mo namida ochikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにせんさらでうき世は慰まず
頼みし月も涙落ちけり

Roma-ji: Ika ni sen sarade ukiyo wa nagusamazu tanomishi tsuki mo namida ochikeri
English Translation: What am I to do?
Nothing else can bring relief
in this sorrowful world,
yet before the moon I trusted
the tears have fallen down
Meaning: What am I to do? Nothing but the moon can console me in this sorrowful world, yet even before the moon I relied on, my tears have fallen.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1004

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on the moon when people composed hundred-poem sequences at Inpumon'in's residence"
This poem was composed as a moon poem when people composed hundred-poem sequences at the residence of Inpumon'in. What am I to do? Nothing else consoles this sorrowful world, yet even with the moon I relied on, tears have fallen, he says. Even gazing at the moon he trusted as his only comfort, tears spill, expressing the depth of grief in a sorrowful world with no means of consolation left.
The author, "Fujiwara no Teika," was a son of Fujiwara no Shunzei. He later compiled the Shinkokin Wakashū and the Shinchokusen Wakashū and is said to have selected the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. He is the leading poet of the Shinkokin age.
It shares the fifth line, "namida ochikeri," with 994 of this book. Where 994 sings of tears falling for no reason, this one sings of tears falling even before the moon trusted for consolation. The next poem, 1005, is by Fujiwara no Ietaka, so that poems by two representative poets of the Shinkokin age stand side by side.

First line, "ika ni sen": "what shall I do," expressing helplessness. The poem pauses here.
Second line, "sarade ukiyo wa": "sarade" means if not that, referring to anything other than viewing the moon.
Third line, "nagusamazu": "is not consoled."
Fourth line, "tanomishi tsuki mo": "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," "even the moon I relied on." It shares the seeking of comfort in the moon with "kokoro zo nagusamanu" in 1006 of this book.
Fifth line, "namida ochikeri": "keri" expresses exclamation at a realization, "my tears have fallen." It is the same line as the fifth line of 994 of this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Teika
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Akade iran nagori o itodo omoe to ya katabuku mama ni sumeru tsuki kana
Next Poem: Yama fukaki matsu no arashi o mi ni shimete tare ka nezame ni tsuki o miruran