Aratama no toshi ni makasete miru yori wa ware koso koeme Ōsaka no seki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あらたまの年にまかせて見るよりは
我こそ越えめ逢坂の関

Roma-ji: Aratama no toshi ni makasete miru yori wa ware koso koeme Ōsaka no seki
English Translation: Rather than let the year
of new jewels take its course
while I look on,
I myself will cross it now,
the Barrier of Meeting Hill
Meaning: Rather than watch idly as the year runs its course and crosses into the new, it is I who will cross it: the Barrier of Ōsaka, the Hill of Meeting.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 1005

Headnote: "Sent on the last day of the Twelfth Month to a woman who was cold to him."
This is the second of two poems sent to women on the occasion of a winter court festival and the year's end. Rather than merely watching the year cross over, the speaker himself will cross the Barrier of Ōsaka, pressing for a meeting at the year's end. According to the headnote, it was sent to an unresponsive woman on the last day of the Twelfth Month.
The author, "Kentoku-kō," is Fujiwara no Koretada. The eldest son of Fujiwara no Morosuke, Minister of the Right, he rose to Regent and Chancellor. Kentoku-kō is the posthumous name given him after his death. His personal collection is the Ichijō Sesshō Gyoshū.

The first line, "aratama no," is a pillow word for "toshi," the year.
The second line, "toshi ni makasete," means "leaving it to the turning of the year," drawing on the year crossing over on the last day of the Twelfth Month.
The third line, "miru yori wa," means "rather than simply watching" the year pass by.
In the fourth line, the emphatic "koso" is resolved by "me": not the year, but I will cross, shifting the one who crosses to the speaker himself. The poem breaks after this line, inverted with the last.
The last line, "Ōsaka no seki," ends on a noun. The Barrier of Ōsaka stood on the border of Yamashiro and Ōmi, and since its name contains "au," to meet, it was sung as a sign of lovers' meeting. Crossing the year and crossing the barrier are laid one over the other to press for a meeting at the year's end. Following the festival of the Eleventh Month in the preceding poem, a poem of the Twelfth Month's last day is placed next, in the order of winter's time.
Author: Fujiwara no Koretada
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Amatsusora toyo no akari ni mishi hito no nao omokage no shiite koishiki
Next Poem: Waga yado wa soko to mo nani ka oshiubeki iwade koso mime tazunekeri ya to