Au koto no katami o dani mo miteshigana hito wa tayu tomo mitsutsu shinoban - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことのかたみをだにも見てしがな
人は絶ゆとも見つつ偲ばん

Roma-ji: Au koto no katami o dani mo miteshigana hito wa tayu tomo mitsutsu shinoban
English Translation: Of our meetings, oh,
if I could see a keepsake,
that much at the least;
though the one I love should leave,
I would gaze and think of him
Meaning: If only I could see some keepsake of our meetings; even if the bond is broken, I would gaze on it and cherish the memory.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1404

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence lamenting one's wretched lot. The speaker wishes at least to have a keepsake of their meetings to look at, and to cherish the memory by it even if the bond is broken. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "the Monk Sosei," was a son of Archbishop Henjō who took vows and the name Sosei, a poet-monk. He was one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
In the third line of the text, "miteshigana," the character for "mi" carries a note suggesting it might be "e." Since the reading line also has "miteshigana," the text is followed as "miteshigana."

The first line, "au koto no," means "of our meetings."
In the second line, "katami o dani mo," "katami" is a keepsake, and "dani" expresses the least of hopes, "at least." It takes up "katami narikeru," the last line of the preceding poem.
In the third line, "miteshigana," "teshigana" expresses a wish: "I wish I could see." The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "hito wa tayu tomo," means "even if the bond with that person breaks," "tomo" being a concessive supposition.
The last line, "mitsutsu shinoban," means "I would gaze and cherish the memory." Where the preceding poem said pain is the keepsake, this one seeks a keepsake of meeting, so that by the same word "katami" a painful keepsake and a cherished one form a pair.
Author: Sosei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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