Warinashi na sode ni nageki no mitsu mama ni inochi o nomi mo itou kokoro wa

わりなしな袖に嘆きの満つままに
命をのみも厭ふ心は

Roma-ji: Warinashi na sode ni nageki no mitsu mama ni inochi o nomi mo itou kokoro wa
English Translation: How hopeless it is—
as my sleeves fill to the brim
with the tears of grief,
this heart that comes to loathe
nothing but its very life.
Meaning: How hopeless it is: as my sleeves fill with tears of grief, my heart comes to loathe nothing but my own life.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1282

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
How hopeless, the poet says, this heart that, as his sleeves fill with tears of grief, comes to loathe only his own life.
As love's grief deepens, even being alive becomes hateful, the height of love's suffering. Like 1244, it opens with warinashi, lamenting love's helplessness.

First line, “warinashi na”: how hopeless, a lament breaking after the first line.
Second line, “sode ni nageki no”: on my sleeves, the tears of grief.
Third line, “mitsu mama ni”: as they fill.
Fourth line, “inochi o nomi mo”: life alone.
Fifth line, “itou kokoro wa”: the heart that loathes it, the inversion naming what is lamented.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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