Konomoto wa kaku kotonoha o miru tabi ni tanomishi kage no naki zo kanashiki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

このもとはかく言の葉を見るたびに
頼みしかげのなきぞ悲しき

Roma-ji: Konomoto wa kaku kotonoha o miru tabi ni tanomishi kage no naki zo kanashiki
English Translation: Beneath this tree,
each time that I look upon
these leaves he wrote,
how sad it is that the shade
I relied on is no more
Meaning: Each time I look upon these leaves of words written here beneath the tree, I grieve that the shade I relied on is gone.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1106

Headnote: "Reply"
This is Fujiwara no Saneie's reply to the preceding poem, 1105. Each time I look on these leaves of words written thus beneath the tree, I grieve that the shade I relied on is gone, he says. To his sister Masaruko, who sang of looking on their father's copied collection as a keepsake, he answers that each time he looks at it he is made to feel that the father he relied on like a sheltering shade is no longer there. Taking up the tree imagery of her poem and ending on "shade," he shares her sorrow at losing their father.
The author, "Major Counselor Saneie," is Fujiwara no Saneie. A son of the Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Kinyoshi, he rose to major counselor. He was the younger brother of Fujiwara no Masaruko.
As the reply to the preceding poem, 1105, it takes up "konomoto ni" as "konomoto wa," shares "kotonoha," leaves of words, and turns the tree imagery into "kage," shade.

First line, "konomoto wa": as in the preceding poem, "konomoto" is a pivot word joining "beneath the tree" and "here at his side." It takes up "konomoto ni" in the first line of the preceding poem, 1105.
Second line, "kaku kotonoha o": "kaku" is a pivot word joining "kaku," to write, and "kaku," thus, overlapping "the leaves of words he wrote" and "thus." It uses the same word as "kotonoha o" in the third line of the preceding poem.
Third line, "miru tabi ni": "each time I see them."
Fourth line, "tanomishi kage no": "kage" overlaps the shade of a tree and the protection of the father he relied on. It is an associated word of the tree.
Fifth line, "naki zo kanashiki": "zo" is an emphatic binding particle closing with the attributive "kanashiki."
Author: Fujiwara no Saneie
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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