Shigatsu no kora ga
makari nishi
kaha se no michi wo
mireba sabushi mo. 5
vv. 1-6 introduction; 7-16 impermanence of life; 17-20 regret of poet at news of death (hinted at rather than directly stated) of the uneme; 21 to end climatic lament over an untimely death.
2 shitaberu = wilt, wither, droop; akiyama no shitaberu imo, drooping as the flaccid leafage in autumn on the hills: but see translation.
1, 2 and 3, 4 are parallelisms reminding one of Hebrew and Chinese poetry, there are several other examples in this uta.
4 kora seems to be a plural form of honour.
8 The wo at the end, which has a stray look, may be understood here (as often elsewhere in the Anthology) by supplying omoheba or some form of the verb omofu. The various ha in this uta exemplify the effect of the particle as suggesting a predicate of the isolated word or expression.
18 The news has come to me who only slightly knew her by sight yet am full of regret.…