Yama wakare tobiyuku kumo no kaerikuru kage miru toki wa nao tanomarenu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山別れ飛びゆく雲のかへり来る
影見る時はなほ頼まれぬ

Roma-ji: Yama wakare tobiyuku kumo no kaerikuru kage miru toki wa nao tanomarenu
English Translation: Parting from the hills
the clouds go flying away,
and when I see them
coming back once more, even now
I cannot help but hope.
Meaning: When I see the clouds that left the mountains and flew away come drifting back again, I still find myself hoping.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1693

Headnote: "Clouds."
A poem on the topic of clouds, this is the fourth of Sugawara no Michizane's twelve poems on one-character topics. Seeing clouds that flew off from the mountains come back again, he still finds himself hoping for the day of his return. As with the moon of the preceding poem, he entrusts his hope of going home to something that returns.
The author, "Kan Zō Daijō Daijin," is Sugawara no Michizane. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. The son of Sugawara no Koreyoshi and renowned as a scholar and poet in Chinese, he rose to Minister of the Right but under Emperor Daigo was demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu and died in exile. Because he was posthumously granted the office of Chancellor, he is referred to by this title.

The first line, "yama wakare," means "parting from the mountains," describing clouds rising from the peaks and leaving their home.
The second line, "tobiyuku kumo no," is the clouds drifting off across the sky. The poet's own figure, sent far from the capital, is laid over them.
The third line, "kaerikuru," is the clouds coming back to the mountains. Following the moon that does not stay in the western sea in the preceding poem, the gaze again rests on something that returns.
In the fourth line, "kage miru toki wa," "kage" means form or figure. The particle "wa" adds the sense of "at that moment, at least."
In the last line, "nao tanomarenu," "re" is the continuative form of the spontaneous auxiliary "ru," and "nu" is perfective. Though he thought he had given up, the sight of returning clouds makes him hope in spite of himself for the day he will go back.
Author: Sugawara no Michizane
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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