Kimi ni mata abukumagawa o matsubeki ni nokori sukunaki ware zo kanashiki

English Translation

To meet you once again,
by the River of Meeting I must wait—
and yet, with so little
left to me of all my years,
it is I who am sorrowful.

Meaning

I should wait for the Abukuma, whose name promises I will meet you again, yet with so few years left to me, it is my own self I grieve for.

Commentary

Book Nine Parting Poems 867

Headnote: "Reply."
This is the third poem of the sequence on partings connected with Mutsu and the second of the exchange with Takashina no Tsuneshige. Though he ought to wait for the day of reunion, the speaker replies, he grieves that so little of his life remains. According to the headnote, it is a reply to the preceding poem.
The author was a son of Fujiwara no Nakakiyo, held posts such as governor of Owari, and was counted among the Six Poets' Circle.
The scene is the parting as Tsuneshige leaves for his post in Mutsu, and the place is the capital.
The direct occasion was the reply to the preceding poem.

The first line, "kimi ni mata," means "with you again," opening the poem with words that look toward reunion.
The second line, "abukumagawa o," takes up "abukumagawa" from the preceding poem just as it is, carrying on the play on "au," "to meet."
The third line, "matsubeki ni," means "though I ought to wait," the conjunctive "ni" expressing concession. Where the preceding poem relies on the name of the Abukuma, this line turns to the long time that must pass before reunion.
The fourth line, "nokori sukunaki," means "with little remaining," referring to what is left of his life. It is the lament of old age that his remaining years may not last until his friend returns from his post.
The last line, "ware zo kanashiki," closes in "kanashiki," the attributive form of the adjective "kanashi," in response to the particle "zo." Where the preceding poem speaks of the pain of today's parting, this poem answers with sorrow over the years until reunion and his own age, so the exchange contrasts today with the time to come.

Author

Fujiwara no Norinaga

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other