Yuku haru o todomekanenuru yūgure wa akebono yori mo aware narikeri

行く春をとどめかねぬる夕暮は
曙よりもあはれなりけり

Roma-ji: Yuku haru o todomekanenuru yūgure wa akebono yori mo aware narikeri
English Translation: Spring is going now,
and this evening that could not
hold it back with it,
more than any dawn, I find,
moves the heart to sorrow deep.
Meaning: This evening, unable to hold back the departing spring, moves the heart more deeply, I find, than any dawn.
Commentary: Spring Poems 173

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed when the third month ended one day short"
On the evening of the last day of spring, the dusk that cannot hold back the departing season stirs the heart more deeply, the poet says, than even the dawn, emblem of spring's beauty. This poem closes the spring section.
Comparing dawn, the essence of spring's charm, with the dusk of spring's end, it expresses how deep is the grief for what departs. Where 2 closed the first morning of spring with haru no akebono, this poem compares the last evening of spring with dawn, so that the dawn at spring's beginning and the dusk at its end make the opening and close of the section answer each other.

First line, “yuku haru o”: the departing spring.
Second line, “todomekanenuru”: unable to hold back.
Third line, “yūgure wa”: the evening of spring's last day.
Fourth line, “akebono yori mo”: more than the dawn of spring, answering haru no akebono, the last line of 2.
Fifth line, “aware narikeri”: how deeply moving it is, closing the whole spring section with keri of realization.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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