Inishie wa tsuki o nomi koso nagameshika ima wa hi o matsu waga mi narikeri - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへは月をのみこそながめしか
今は日を待つ我が身なりけり

Roma-ji: Inishie wa tsuki o nomi koso nagameshika ima wa hi o matsu waga mi narikeri
English Translation: In days of long ago
it was the moon alone that
I would gaze upon,
now I have become one who
waits only for the day
Meaning: Long ago I spent my time gazing only at the moon, but now I have become one who waits for the day.
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 617

In the past the poet spent her time gazing only at the moon, but now she has become one who waits for the day. Contrasting moon and day, past and present, she sings of how her own state has changed with time. Waiting for the day is read as waiting for the day her life will end, and the poem is placed among laments.
The author, Daini no Sanmi, is Fujiwara no Kenshi, the daughter of Fujiwara no Nobutaka and Murasaki Shikibu. She became wet nurse to Emperor Go-Reizei and, as wife of Takashina no Nariakira, Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu, was known as Daini no Sanmi. One of her poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, 'inishie wa', means long ago, paired with ima wa, now, in the fourth line.
Second line, 'tsuki o nomi koso', means only the moon, with the particles nomi and koso. It is paired with hi, the day, in the fourth line.
Third line, 'nagameshika', means I used to gaze, the particle koso answered by shika, the realis of the past ki, carrying a contrastive sense into what follows.
Fourth line, 'ima wa hi o matsu', means now I wait for the day, read as waiting for the day life will end.
Final line, 'waga mi narikeri', means such is what I have become, closing with the exclamatory keri.
Author: Daini no Sanmi
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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