Tsuyu no mi no kie mo hatenaba natsukusa no haha ika ni shite aramu to suramu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

露の身の消えもはてなば夏草の
ははいかにしてあらむとすらむ

Roma-ji: Tsuyu no mi no kie mo hatenaba natsukusa no haha ika ni shite aramu to suramu
English Translation: Should this dewdrop self
vanish away completely,
like leaves of summer grass,
my mother, how will she then
manage to go on living
Meaning: If my dewlike life should vanish completely, how will my mother, left behind like the leaves of summer grass, go on living?
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 619

If the poet's dewlike life should vanish altogether, how will the mother left behind go on living? A child facing death expresses concern for the mother who will remain, more than for the poet's own life.
Poem 615 in this book also sings of the sorrow of a child who dies before a mother. The dewdrop self also appears in 613 in this book, where it rises again at words of comfort, whereas here it is about to vanish.

First line, 'tsuyu no mi no', means this dewdrop self, the same phrase as tsuyu no mi mo in the third line of 613 in this book.
Second line, 'kie mo hatenaba', means should it vanish completely, the irrealis of the perfective nu followed by ba expressing a supposition. Kie, vanish, is associated with dew.
Third line, 'natsukusa no', means of the summer grass, leading to ha, leaves, and to haha in the fourth line, while adding a scene of dew on summer grass.
Fourth line, 'haha ika ni shite', means how will mother, joining ha wa, the leaves, with haha, mother.
Final line, 'aramu to suramu', means how will she manage to live, the conjectural mu followed by the present conjectural ramu.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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