Koto no ne ni namida o soete nagasu kana taenamashikaba to omou aware ni

琴の音に涙を添へて流すかな
絶えなましかばと思ふあはれに

Roma-ji: Koto no ne ni namida o soete nagasu kana taenamashikaba to omou aware ni
English Translation: To the koto's notes
I add my tears and let them
flow along with them,
moved by the thought of what if
your life had come to its end.
Meaning: To the music of the koto I add my tears and let them flow, moved by the thought of what if your life had ended.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 922

Headnote: "Hearing that the Lady Kojijū of the Retired Emperor had lain gravely ill for years, I went to call on her; saying she was a little better lately, she played a piece on the wagon that she let no one hear, and hearing it"
Hearing that the Lady Kojijū of the Retired Emperor's household had lain gravely ill for years, the poet went to visit; saying she was a little better lately, she played on the wagon a piece she let no one else hear, and hearing it he composed this. Kojijū, also called Matsuyoi no Kojijū, was a noted poet. To the koto's music I add my tears, moved by the thought that your life might have ended, he says.

First line, “koto no ne ni”: to the sound of the wagon.
Second line, “namida o soete”: adding my tears.
Third line, “nagasu kana”: nagasu overlays playing music and shedding tears; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “taenamashikaba to”: had it ended, joining the end of life and the end of the music; a line of eight syllables.
Fifth line, “omou aware ni”: for the sorrow of that thought, inverted to follow the third line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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