Koyoi koso omoishirarure asakaranu kimi ni chigiri no aru mi narikeri

今宵こそ思ひ知らるれ浅からぬ
君に契りのある身なりけり

Roma-ji: Koyoi koso omoishirarure asakaranu kimi ni chigiri no aru mi narikeri
English Translation: Tonight, above all,
I have come to realize:
a tie, and no slight one,
binds me to my lord, it seems,
this self of mine, from the past.
Meaning: Tonight, above all, I have come to know it: I am one bound to my lord by a karmic tie that runs deep.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 782

Headnote: "When the Senior Retired Emperor passed away and was being carried to his final palace that night, I happened to come down from Kōya and arrive, and it was very sad; when he first went to view the place where he would later rest, the Minister of the Right Saneyoshi, then a Grand Counselor, attended him; it was a secret outing, and no one else was in attendance; recalling that I had served in that retinue, and that I had happened to arrive on this very night, I thought on and on of past and present and composed this"
In 1156 Retired Emperor Toba died, and on the night his body was carried to the hall that would be his tomb, Saigyō happened to come down from Mount Kōya and arrive, filled with grief. Long before, when Toba first went to view the place where he would rest after death, Fujiwara no Saneyoshi, later Minister of the Right but then a Grand Counselor, attended him; it was a secret outing with no other attendants, and Saigyō too was in that retinue as a guard of the Northern Quarters. Recalling this, and that he had arrived on this very night, he thought on past and present and composed this poem. Tonight above all, he says, I have come to know that I am bound to my lord by a deep karmic tie.

First line, “koyoi koso”: koso is answered by rure in the second line.
Second line, “omoishirarure”: rure is the perfective of the spontaneous ru; I am made to realize; the poem breaks here.
Third line, “asakaranu”: not shallow, deep.
Fourth line, “kimi ni chigiri no”: kimi is Retired Emperor Toba; chigiri is the karmic bond from a former life.
Fifth line, “aru mi narikeri”: narikeri marks realization; such a one I am.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Migakareshi tama no sumika o tsuyu fukaki nobe ni utsushite miru zo kanashiki
Next Poem: Michi kawaru miyuki kanashiki koyoi kana kagiri no tabi to miru ni tsukete mo