Tanomeoku koto no ha dani mo naki mono o nani ni kakareru tsuyu no inochi zo - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

頼めおく言の葉だにもなきものを
何にかかれる露の命ぞ

Roma-ji: Tanomeoku koto no ha dani mo naki mono o nani ni kakareru tsuyu no inochi zo
English Translation: Not even a word
to give me any hope
have you left me, so
upon what does it hang on,
this life as fragile as dew
Meaning: You have left me not even a word to give me hope; on what, then, does it hang, this life of mine as fleeting as the dew?
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 420

The poet has not received even a word from the beloved to rely on, and wonders on what this life, fragile as dew, hangs to keep from vanishing. Through the tie between words, koto no ha, leaves of speech, and dew, the poem conveys the forlornness of living on with nothing to lean on.
Some manuscripts name Nyobettō of the Empress's Household as the author and, like the preceding poem, present it as composed on behalf of another on the sentiment of love.
This is the closing poem of Book Seven, Love Poems I. Where the opening poem, 350, began the book with surprise at having stepped onto the path of love, this poem closes it lamenting a dewlike life sustained without a single word to rely on. The ayamegusa of the opening and the leaves of words and dew of the close answer each other as images of grass and leaves.

First line, 'tanomeoku', means to leave one in hope, to give the other expectation. 'Tanomureba' in poem 367 in this book also sings of being led to hope.
Second line, 'koto no ha dani mo', means not even words, using the particle dani. It is the same word as 'koto no ha' in poem 412 in this book. Ha, leaf, is a word related to the dew of the final line.
Third line, 'naki mono o', means though there are none, using the concessive mono o.
Fourth line, 'nani ni kakareru', means on what does it hang, using the attributive of the stative ri and echoing dew clinging to leaves.
Final line, 'tsuyu no inochi zo', means this dewlike life, closing the book with a strong question in zo. It shares the theme of life with 'inochi narikeru' in poem 354 and with poems 380 and 403 in this book.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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