Mi no usa o omoishi tokeba fuyu no yo mo todokōranu wa namida narikeri - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

身の憂さを思ひしとけば冬の夜も
とどこほらぬは涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Mi no usa o omoishi tokeba fuyu no yo mo todokōranu wa namida narikeri
English Translation: When I try to think
through the sorrows of my lot,
even winter nights
the one thing that never freezes
still and flows on is my tears
Meaning: When I unravel the sorrows of my life in thought, even on a winter night the one thing that never freezes and flows on unchecked is my tears.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 584

When the poet thinks through the sorrows of his lot, even on a winter night when everything freezes, what flows on without freezing is his tears. Recalling his misfortune on a winter night, tears flow without end, and the poem expresses this through the conceit of tears that do not freeze.
Where poem 534 in this book sang of ice that melted in spring and matters that are held up after, this poem sings of tears that are never held up even on a winter night, and the words toku, to melt, and todokōru echo between them.

First line, 'mi no usa o', means the sorrows of my lot, the same words as mi no usa mo in the first line of poem 572 in this book.
Second line, 'omoishi tokeba', is a pivot in which toke means both unraveling one's thoughts and ice thawing, left in kana. The particle shi adds emphasis.
Third line, 'fuyu no yo mo', means even on a winter night when all things freeze.
Fourth line, 'todokōranu wa', means what is not held back, that is, flows on without freezing. It echoes todokōruramu in the final line of poem 534 in this book.
Final line, 'namida narikeri', means it is my tears, closing with the exclamatory keri. It is the same line as the final line of poem 576 in this book.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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