Chigiri okishi sasemo ga tsuyu o inochi nite aware kotoshi no aki mo inumeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

契りおきしさせもが露を命にて
あはれ今年の秋もいぬめり

Roma-ji: Chigiri okishi sasemo ga tsuyu o inochi nite aware kotoshi no aki mo inumeri
English Translation: Having lived upon
the dew on the sasemo grass
that you pledged to me,
ah, now this year's autumn too
seems to be passing away
Meaning: I have lived on your promise, like dew on the sasemo grass, yet, alas, it seems this year's autumn too is slipping away.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1026

Headnote: "Sent when the Preceptor Kōkaku had repeatedly sought appointment as lecturer at the Yuima Assembly and been passed over; when I complained to the Lay Monk of Hosshōji, Former Chancellor, he replied with "the plain of Shimeji," yet that year too Kōkaku was passed over, so I composed this"
His son, the Preceptor Kōkaku, had sought appointment as lecturer at the Yuima Assembly of Kōfukuji but was repeatedly passed over; when Mototoshi complained to the Lay Monk of Hosshōji, Former Chancellor Fujiwara no Tadamichi, Tadamichi answered with "the plain of Shimeji," hinting that he should trust him. Yet that year too Kōkaku was passed over, and Mototoshi sent this poem. I lived on your promise like dew on the sasemo grass, yet alas this year's autumn too seems to pass, he says. Using the words of the old poem Tadamichi had cited, he pleads with a parent's earnest love for his son and the grief of disappointed hopes.
The author, "Fujiwara no Motoyū," is Fujiwara no Mototoshi. The original has "Motoyū," but since this poem is taken into the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu as Mototoshi's, it is regarded as an error for Mototoshi. Mototoshi was a son of Fujiwara no Toshiie and a grandson of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Yorimune. Though not favored in rank, he was a leading figure of the poetic world, ranked alongside Minamoto no Toshiyori.
This poem is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tadamichi's words draw on the poem attributed to the Kannon of Kiyomizu, "nao tanome Shimeji ga hara no sasemogusa waga yo no naka ni aramu kagiri wa," and this poem's "sasemo ga tsuyu" takes it up. Following the preceding poem, 1025, it is a poem of grievance lamenting that one's time does not come.

First line, "chigiri okishi": "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," "that you pledged," referring to Tadamichi's words about "the plain of Shimeji." With six syllables, "chi-gi-ri-o-ki-shi," the first line is hypermetric.
Second line, "sasemo ga tsuyu o": "sasemo" is mugwort, and its dew stands for Tadamichi's gracious words.
Third line, "inochi nite": "relying on it as my life."
Fourth line, "aware kotoshi no": "aware" is an interjection, "alas."
Fifth line, "aki mo inumeri": "inu" means to depart, to pass away, and "meri" is conjectural, "autumn too seems to be passing." Since the Yuima Assembly is held in autumn, it expresses that this year's chance has also been lost.
Author: Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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