Kiekaeri aru ka naki ka ni mono zo omou utsurou aki no hana no ue no shimo

消え返りあるかなきかに物ぞ思ふ
移ろふ秋の花の上の霜

Roma-ji: Kiekaeri aru ka naki ka ni mono zo omou utsurou aki no hana no ue no shimo
English Translation: Fading utterly,
as if I were or were not,
I sink in longing thought—
the frost upon the flowers
of autumn as they fade.
Meaning: Fading utterly, as if I barely exist, I sink in longing, like the frost upon the flowers of autumn as they wither.
Commentary: Love Poems 535

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love, on chrysanthemums"
Like the frost on fading autumn chrysanthemums, the poet is so wasted by longing that he hardly knows whether he exists.

Line 1 means "vanishing utterly."
Line 2 means "as if I were or were not."
Line 3: zo binds the attributive omou; the poem pauses here.
Line 4 means "of autumn as it fades," taking up "changes color" from the preceding poem.
Line 5 ends on a noun, pairing with "the dew upon the flowers" in 488; the fading frost is laid over the poet's fading self.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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