Inishie no nareshi kumoi o shinobu to ya kasumi o wakete kimi tazunekemu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへの馴れし雲居を忍ぶとや
霞を分けて君たづねけむ

Roma-ji: Inishie no nareshi kumoi o shinobu to ya kasumi o wakete kimi tazunekemu
English Translation: Was it that you long
for the palace of old days
that you knew so well,
that you parted through the haze
and came here seeking us?
Meaning: Was it out of longing for the palace you knew so well in the old days that you parted the spring haze and came to visit?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1724

Headnote: "In the spring after the Nijō-in had moved to the Bodaijuin, Major Counselor Tsunenobu, recalling the past, came to call; the next day a lady-in-waiting sent this."
A poem remembering one who has left the court. Was it out of longing for the palace he once knew so well that he parted the haze to come? According to the headnote, the day after Minamoto no Tsunenobu, recalling old times, called on the Nijō-in, who had moved to the Bodaijuin, a lady-in-waiting sent this poem to him.
The author is given as "Anonymous," and the name has not come down. According to the headnote, she was a lady-in-waiting in the Nijō-in's service.
The Nijō-in is Princess Akiko, who had been consort of Emperor Go-Reizei. Tsunenobu, a son of Minamoto no Michikata, rose to Major Counselor and, gifted in poetry and music, was called the Katsura Major Counselor.

The first line, "inishie no," means "of old," referring to the days when the Nijō-in lived at court as consort.
In the second line, "nareshi kumoi o," "kumoi" means the court. Taking up "kumoi" in the preceding poem, poems by those who have left the court continue.
The third line, "shinobu to ya," means "because you longed for it." "Ya" is a particle of question reaching to the last line.
The fourth line, "kasumi o wakete," means "parting the spring haze." It shows that the visit came in spring and suggests the long way to the distant Bodaijuin. Haze appears again in the next poem.
The last line, "kimi tazunekemu," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive form of the past conjectural "kemu." Taking Tsunenobu's visit as born of longing for the past, it thanks him for his kindness.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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