Hakanakute koyoi akenaba yuku toshi no omoide mo naki haru ni ya awanamu

はかなくて今夜明けなば行く年の
思ひ出もなき春にや逢はなむ

Roma-ji: Hakanakute koyoi akenaba yuku toshi no omoide mo naki haru ni ya awanamu
English Translation: Fleeting as it is,
if this night should come to dawn,
of the passing year
with no memories to keep,
must I meet the spring?
Meaning: If this night should fade away and dawn, must I meet the spring with no memories at all of the departing year?
Commentary: Winter Poems 403

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The year's end"
On the last night of the year, the poet wonders whether, if this night should simply fade into dawn, he must meet the new spring without a single memory of the departing year. He sings his regret over a year gone by with nothing accomplished.
The Teika text gives line 4 as omoiide mo naki.

Line 1 means "fleeting and empty."
Line 2: naba combines na, the conjunctive of the perfective nu, and the particle ba, "if this night should dawn." The next poem also sings the dawning of the year's last night.
Line 3 is the same words as line 3 of 397 and 398.
Line 4 means "without anything worth remembering."
Line 5: ya is an interrogative binding particle, "must I meet the spring?"
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Oiraku no kashira no yuki o todomeokite hakana no toshi ya kurete yukuramu
Next Poem: Nubatama no kono yo na ake so shibashiba mo mada furutoshi no uchi zo omowamu