Ika ni semu kureyuku toshi o shirube nite mi o tazunetsutsu oi wa kinikeri - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにせむ暮れゆく年をしるべにて
身を尋ねつつ老いは来にけり

Roma-ji: Ika ni semu kureyuku toshi o shirube nite mi o tazunetsutsu oi wa kinikeri
English Translation: What am I to do?
Taking the year slipping away
as its guide along the road,
seeking me out all the while,
old age has come at last
Meaning: What am I to do? With the passing year as its guide, old age has sought me out and come at last.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 302

With the waning year as its guide, old age has sought the poet out and arrived, and the poet laments, not knowing what to do. The wit lies in casting old age as a visitor who comes calling with the year's end as its signpost.
Like poem 284 in this book, it begins with the line 'what am I to do?'; where that poem feared the first snow would vanish, this one laments the arrival of old age.
From poem 299 through poem 304 in this book come poems lamenting the year's end, bringing the winter book to a close.

First line, 'ika ni semu', means what am I to do, a heart at a loss. The poem breaks after the first line, and it is the same first line as poem 284 in this book.
Second line, 'kureyuku toshi o', means the year that is slipping away, the same line as the second line of poem 300 in this book.
Third line, 'shirube nite', means as a guide.
Fourth line, 'mi o tazunetsutsu', means seeking me out, casting old age as a visitor.
Final line, 'oi wa kinikeri', means old age has come, closing with the exclamatory keri.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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