Kaminazuki mare no miyuki ni sasowarete kyō wakarenaba itsu ka aimimu

English Translation

In the Godless Month,
drawn along on this rare journey
of the royal progress—
if we part today, when shall
we meet and see each other again?

Meaning

Drawn along on this rare royal progress in the Godless Month, if we part from each other today, when shall we ever meet again?

Commentary

Book Nine Parting Poems 869

Headnote: "Composed when the monk Sosei, who had been summoned to attend the Teiji Retired Emperor on his progress to view Miyataki, was given leave in Sumiyoshi District and sent back to Yamato."
This is the first poem of a sequence thinking on the time of reunion. The speaker wonders when he will meet again the monk Sosei, with whom he had traveled on a rare royal progress, if they part today. According to the headnote, it was composed when Sosei, summoned to attend the Teiji Retired Emperor's progress to Miyataki, was given leave in Sumiyoshi District and sent back to Yamato.
The author was a son of Fujiwara no Yoshiyo, rose to Minister of the Right, and was called the Ichijō Minister of the Right.
The scene is the royal progress in the Godless Month, and the place is Sumiyoshi District in Settsu.
The direct occasion was Sosei being given leave during the Teiji Retired Emperor's progress and sent back to Yamato.
The Teiji Retired Emperor is Retired Emperor Uda, who made a progress to Miyataki in Yoshino in the tenth month of the first year of Shōtai (898). The monk Sosei was a son of Archbishop Henjō and lived at the Ryōin'in in Isonokami in Yamato.

The first line, "kaminazuki," is the tenth month of the lunar calendar, marking the time of the progress in the headnote.
The second line, "mare no miyuki ni," means "on the rare progress of the retired emperor." It shows that the journey was a precious occasion.
The third line, "sasowarete," means "drawn along," referring to having been summoned to attend the progress and travel together.
The fourth line, "kyō wakarenaba," means "if we part today," the irrealis form "na" of the perfective auxiliary "nu" joined to the particle "ba" to form a supposition. It shows a parting that came unexpectedly in the middle of the journey.
The last line, "itsu ka aimimu," means "when shall we meet," the interrogative "itsu ka" closing in the conjectural "mu." It holds the thought that the bond granted by a rare progress will become rare once more with today's parting. The next poem, 870, also asks about the time of reunion, and the two are placed side by side.

Author

Fujiwara no Tsunesuke

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other