Tanomeokamu kimi mo kokoro ya nagusamu to kaeramu koto wa itsu to naku tomo

English Translation

I will give my word,
that your heart may find some ease
in the promise made,
though the time of my return
is a time I cannot name.

Meaning

I will let you count on my return, thinking it may ease your heart, even though I cannot say when that return will be.

Commentary

Book Nine Parting Poems 886

Headnote: "Composed when setting out to practice austerities in a distant place, as people grieved at the parting."
This is the first poem of a sequence on partings at setting out for religious practice. Though he cannot name the time of his return, giving others something to count on may ease their hearts. According to the headnote, it was composed as he set out for austerities in a distant place and people grieved at the parting.
The original text gives no author's name; following the preceding poem, it is by Saigyō. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; a guard of the retired emperor Toba, he took the tonsure, traveled through the provinces, and left the personal collection Sankashū.
The scene is his departure for religious practice, and the place is the capital.
The direct occasion was the grief of those who saw him off as he set out for austerities in a distant place.

In the first line, "tanomeokamu," "tanome" is a lower bigrade verb meaning to make another rely on something. "Mu" expresses intention, so he means to give them a return to count on. Where 879 says "e koso tanomene," that he cannot let anyone rely on him, this poem, from the same departure for austerities, deliberately does so, and the two take opposite stances.
The second line, "kimi mo kokoro ya," means "your heart too," the particle "ya" posing a question and closing in "nagusamu" of the third line.
The third line, "nagusamu to," means "thinking it may be eased." The promise is shown to be for the other's sake, not his own.
The fourth line, "kaeramu koto wa," means "as for returning," the particle "wa" shifting the topic.
The last line, "itsu to naku tomo," means "though I cannot say when." Admitting himself that the promise is not a firm one and speaking it all the same is where his care for the other appears.

Author

Saigyō

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other