Nasake arishi mukashi nomi nao shinobarete nagaraemauki yo ni mo aru kana

情けありし昔のみなほ偲ばれて
長らへまうき世にもあるかな

Roma-ji: Nasake arishi mukashi nomi nao shinobarete nagaraemauki yo ni mo aru kana
English Translation: Only those old days
when people still had feeling
I recall the more,
yet in a world where I would
not linger, here I live on.
Meaning: I find myself longing all the more for the past, when people still had feeling, and yet here I am, living on in a world where I have no wish to linger.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 713

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Miscellany"
Only the past, when people still had feeling, is recalled all the more, and yet the poet lives on in a world where he has no wish to linger. Longing for the past is laid over weariness with the present.

First line, “nasake arishi”: when there was feeling; shi is the attributive of the past auxiliary ki; the line runs to six syllables.
Second line, “mukashi nomi nao”: nomi limits, only the past; nao is all the more.
Third line, “shinobarete”: re is spontaneous, recalled without willing it.
Fourth line, “nagaraemauki”: reluctant to live on.
Fifth line, “yo ni mo aru kana”: here I live in such a world, closing with exclamatory kana.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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