Ika nareba shizumi nagara ni toshi o hete yoyo no kumoi no tsuki o mitsuran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかなれば沈みながらに年を経て
代々の雲居の月を見つらん

Roma-ji: Ika nareba shizumi nagara ni toshi o hete yoyo no kumoi no tsuki o mitsuran
English Translation: For what reason is it
that I have passed the years,
still sunk low as now,
gazing at the palace moon
through reign after reign?
Meaning: Why is it that, still sunk in lowly rank, I have passed the years gazing at the moon above the palace through reign after reign?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1024

Headnote: "Composed in the reign of Emperor Nijō, reflecting that I had served as a courtier through four reigns"
In the reign of Emperor Nijō, reflecting that he had served as a courtier through four reigns without promotion, he composed this poem. Why is it that, still sunk low, I have passed the years gazing at the palace moon reign after reign, he asks. Having served long at court and seen the reigns of successive emperors while remaining in low rank, he laments his misfortune and expresses his feelings through the moon above the palace.
The author, "Shunzei, Master of the Empress Dowager's Household," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. A son of Fujiwara no Toshitada, he served as master of the empress dowager's household and later took the tonsure under the name Shakua. He compiled this Senzai Wakashū by command of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Singing of "the moon above the palace," this poem bridges the group of moon poems and the poems of personal grievance. From this poem through 1029, poems on one's own misfortune and the sorrows of the world continue. It shares the word "shizumu," to sink low, with the next poem, 1025, and where this one has "four reigns," the next has "three."

First line, "ika nareba": "for what reason," answering "ran" in the fifth line.
Second line, "shizumi nagara ni": "shizumu" means to remain in low rank through misfortune, "while still sunk low." It answers "shizumishi hito mo" in the second line of the next poem, 1025.
Third line, "toshi o hete": "passing long years."
Fourth line, "yoyo no kumoi no": "yoyo" means the reigns of successive emperors and "kumoi" the palace. It takes up "four reigns" in the headnote.
Fifth line, "tsuki o mitsuran": "tsu" is the perfective and "ran" conjectures a cause, "why have I looked upon the moon?" The moon also evokes the glory of the court and the emperor.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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