Toshi o hete omou kokoro no shirushi ni zo sora mo tayori no kaze wa fukikeru - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年を経て思ふ心のしるしにぞ
空もたよりの風は吹きける

Roma-ji: Toshi o hete omou kokoro no shirushi ni zo sora mo tayori no kaze wa fukikeru
English Translation: All these many years
of a heart that longs for you:
as their token, see,
even the sky has sent a wind
bearing tidings on its way
Meaning: As a sign of the heart that has longed for you through the years, even the sky has sent a favoring wind to carry my words to you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 998

Headnote: "Sent to a woman, attached to a reply to a letter someone had sent."
This is the first poem of a sequence on longing that has lasted for years. As a sign of the heart that has loved for so long, even the sky has sent a wind of good tidings, and the poem rejoices at the chance to convey his feelings. According to the headnote, a letter came from someone, and the poet sent this to a woman attached to his reply.
The author, "Fujiwara no Takamitsu," was a son of Fujiwara no Morosuke, Minister of the Right. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, he rose to Minor Captain of the Right but took the tonsure young and entered Yokawa on Mount Hiei, later living at Tōnomine, where he was called the Tōnomine Minor Captain.

The first line, "toshi o hete," means "through the passing years," showing a long-held longing.
The second line, "omou kokoro no," means "of the heart that has longed."
In the third line, "shirushi" means a sign or an effect. The emphatic "zo" is resolved by "keru" in the last line.
In the fourth line, "tayori" pivots between a favorable opportunity and a letter. "Even the sky" speaks of the chance as if it were heaven's own doing.
The last line, "kaze wa fukikeru," means "a wind to carry tidings has blown," with "keru" marking realization. The next poem also opens with "toshitsuki wa" and sings of feeling across long years, so two poems of years-long love stand together.
Author: Fujiwara no Takamitsu
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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