Kuyashiku mo misomekeru kana nabete yo no aware to bakari kikamashi mono o - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

悔しくも見初めけるかななべて世の
あはれとばかり聞かましものを

Roma-ji: Kuyashiku mo misomekeru kana nabete yo no aware to bakari kikamashi mono o
English Translation: How I regret it
that I ever set eyes on you —
had I not, I would
have heard of it as only
the common sorrow of the world
Meaning: How I regret ever having set eyes on you! Otherwise I would have heard of your death only as one of the world's ordinary sorrows.
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 407

Regretting that he ever came to know the one who has died, the poet says that otherwise he would have heard of the death merely as one of the world's ordinary sorrows. Through a counterfactual, the poem conveys a grief made deep by having known the person.

The first line, "kuyashiku mo," uses "mo": regrettably.
The second line, "misomekeru kana," combines the attributive exclamatory "keri" and "kana": that I came to see you, with a break after the second line.
The third line, "nabete yo no," means of the world in general.
The fourth line, "aware to bakari," uses "bakari": only as a sad tale.
The final line, "kikamashi mono o," combines the counterfactual "mashi" and the regretful "mono o": I would have heard it so.
Source: Shika Wakashu
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