Au koto wa itsu tomo nakute aware waga shiranu inochi ni toshi o furu kana - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことはいつともなくてあはれ我が
知らぬ命に年を経るかな

Roma-ji: Au koto wa itsu tomo nakute aware waga shiranu inochi ni toshi o furu kana
English Translation: When we two shall meet
there is no knowing, and so,
alas, with a life
whose end I cannot foresee,
I watch the years go by
Meaning: With no knowing when we will meet, alas, I pass the years in a life whose end I cannot know.
Commentary: Book Eight Love Poems II 466

With no knowing when they will meet, the poet passes the years, alas, in a life whose end he cannot know. Overlaying the uncertainty of meeting on the uncertainty of life's end, the poem laments the years slipping by in vain.
Poem 431 in this book uses the same words itsu tomo in itsu tomo shirade, singing of loving on in a world uncertain even until the day grows dark. Where that poem takes the close of a single day as its measure, this poem takes the passing years, treating the same theme on a different span of time.
The author, Tsunenobu, is Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A son of Minamoto no Michikata, he rose to Major Counselor and was called the Katsura Major Counselor. He was the father of Minamoto no Toshiyori, compiler of this anthology, and one of his poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, 'au koto wa', means meeting my beloved.
Second line, 'itsu tomo nakute', means with no knowing when, answering itsu tomo shirade in the fourth line of poem 431 in this book.
Third line, 'aware waga', means alas, my, setting the interjection aware in the middle to voice a lament.
Fourth line, 'shiranu inochi ni', means in a life whose end I cannot know.
Final line, 'toshi o furu kana', means I pass the years, closing with the exclamatory kana.
Author: Minamoto no Tsunenobu
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
Prev Poem: Koiwabite taenu omoi no keburi mo ya munashiki sora no kumo to naruramu
Next Poem: Hito shirezu omou kokoro o kanaenamu kami arawarete mienu to naraba