Now that I am old,
They say there is a parting
None can turn aside—
All the more I long to see
You, my dear and cherished one.

Meaning

Now that I have grown old, they say there is a parting that cannot be avoided. All the more, I long to see you, my dear one.

Commentary

84. The Unavoidable Parting

Long ago there was a man. Though his rank was low, his mother was of the imperial family. She lived at Nagaoka, the former capital near Kyoto. The man served at court in the capital, and so he could not often go to visit his mother. As he was her only child, she cherished him greatly.

Around the twelfth month a letter arrived from his mother saying that the matter was urgent. The man was startled and read the letter.
The poem was written in that letter from his mother.

The poem expresses the wish of the mother, whose death was already near, that she might see her son once more.

This poem is also included in the Kokinshū.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

Even for a pillow I would not bind gathered grass— For on this spring night Not even the autumn night Can be relied on for length.
Forgetting all else, I can only think it a dream— Had I ever thought That, parting the deep-fallen snow, I would come to see you here?
In this fleeting world, Would there were no parting None can turn aside— For the sake of children who Pray their parents live a thousand years.
Though I think of you, Yet I cannot part myself Into two at once— The piling, falling snow Is truly my very heart.

Now that I am old, They say there is a parting None can turn aside— All the more I long to see You, my dear and cherished one.

Now that I am old,
They say there is a parting
None can turn aside—
All the more I long to see
You, my dear and cherished one.