Mi no usa wa suginuru kata o omou ni mo ima yukusue no koto zo kanashiki - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

身の憂さは過ぎぬる方を思ふにも
今行く末のことぞ悲しき

Roma-ji: Mi no usa wa suginuru kata o omou ni mo ima yukusue no koto zo kanashiki
English Translation: The sorrow of my lot —
when I think back on the days
that have passed me by,
it is what lies before me now
that fills me most with grief
Meaning: When I think on the misery of my life, looking back on the days gone by, it is what lies ahead that grieves me most.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 341

Reflecting on the misery of his lot, the poet says that even as he looks back on the past, it is the future ahead that grieves him most. Setting past and future side by side, the poem expresses the lament of an unfortunate life with no comfort in either direction.
Toward the end of the book, poems of reflection on the past and the future follow one after another.

The first line, "mi no usa wa" (the misery of my lot), singles it out with "wa."
The second line, "suginuru kata o," uses the attributive perfective "nuru" for the time that has passed.
The third line, "omou ni mo," uses "mo": even when I think of it.
The fourth line, "ima yukusue no" (the future ahead), refers to what is to come, paired with "suginuru kata" in the second line. Poem 345 of this book also sings of "yukusue."
The final line, "koto zo kanashiki," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive "kanashiki": the future is what grieves me.
Author: Minamoto no Moroyori
Source: Shika Wakashu
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