Yukusue no inishie bakari koishiku wa suguru tsukihi mo nagekazaramashi - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

行く末のいにしへばかり恋しくは
過ぐる月日も嘆かざらまし

Roma-ji: Yukusue no inishie bakari koishiku wa suguru tsukihi mo nagekazaramashi
English Translation: If the days to come
were as dear to me as all
the days of long ago,
then I would not grieve at all
over months and days gone by
Meaning: If the days ahead were as dear to me as the days of long ago, I would not grieve at the passing of the months and days.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 345

If the future were as dear and appealing as the past, the poet says, he would not grieve at the passing of time. Through a counterfactual, the poem expresses an aging heart that finds only the past dear and holds no hope for the future.
With poem 341 of this book, which grieves over the future, and poem 343, which longs for the past, it treats the same theme from another angle.

The first line, "yukusue no" (of the future), refers to what lies ahead.
The second line, "inishie bakari," uses "bakari" for degree: as much as the past.
The third line, "koishiku wa," a hypothetical formed by "wa" after the adjective's continuative form, means if it were dear.
The fourth line, "suguru tsukihi mo," refers to the passing months and days, added with "mo."
The final line, "nagekazaramashi," combines the negative "zu" and counterfactual "mashi": I would not grieve.
Source: Shika Wakashu
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