Koto to naku kyō kurenu meri asu mo mata kawarazu koso wa hima suguru kage

こととなく今日暮れぬめり明日もまた
変はらずこそは隙過ぐる影

Roma-ji: Koto to naku kyō kurenu meri asu mo mata kawarazu koso wa hima suguru kage
English Translation: With nothing to show,
it seems today has darkened;
and tomorrow too,
unchanged, will be the same,
a light glimpsed passing a crack.
Meaning: Today, it seems, has ended with nothing done, and tomorrow too, unchanged, the light will flash past like a horse glimpsed through a crack.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 762

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Today, it seems, has ended with nothing to show, and tomorrow too will pass in an instant, like light flashing past a crack. The swiftness of time is expressed through Zhuangzi's saying that life passes like a white colt glimpsed through a crack, lamenting days that slip by in vain.

First line, “koto to naku”: with nothing in particular.
Second line, “kyō kurenu meri”: meri expresses inference, today has ended, it seems; the poem breaks here.
Third line, “asu mo mata”: tomorrow as well, set against the today of the second line.
Fourth line, “kawarazu koso wa”: koso wa is emphatic, unchanged.
Fifth line, “hima suguru kage”: ending on a noun, a light passing a crack, a figure for time flashing by.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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