Chigiri areba ureshiki kakaru ori ni ainu wasuru na kami mo yukusue no sora - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

契りあれば嬉しきかかる折にあひぬ
忘るな神も行く末の空

Roma-ji: Chigiri areba ureshiki kakaru ori ni ainu wasuru na kami mo yukusue no sora
English Translation: Since a bond was made,
I have met with such a time
as this, full of joy—
do not forget, O god, you too,
the skies of days still to come.
Meaning: Because a bond of fate was made, I have met with such a joyful occasion; do not forget it, O god, you too, through all the days to come.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1911

Headnote: "Composed when I visited Kumano for the removal of the god to the rebuilt main shrine, within the same year that Hongū burned."
This is the sixth poem in the sequence on Kumano, and the last of the Kumano poems. Because a bond of fate brought the poet to this joyful occasion, he asks the god not to forget that bond in the days to come. According to the headnote, it was composed when he visited Kumano for the removal of the god to the rebuilt main shrine, within the same year that Hongū had burned. It expresses joy at witnessing the shrine's rebuilding and a wish that the bond with the god may last.
The author, "Dajō Tennō," the Retired Emperor, is Go-Toba. A son of Emperor Takakura, he ruled as retired emperor after abdicating and ordered the compilation of the Shin Kokinshū.
Sengū is the rebuilding of a shrine's sanctuary and the removal of the god's sacred body to it.

The first line, "chigiri areba," means "since there is a bond of fate." It runs to six syllables, one beyond the norm. It resembles "chigiri arite," the first line of poem 1872 of this book, both speaking of a bond with the god.
The second line, "ureshiki kakaru," means "such a joyful."
The third line, "ori ni ainu," means "I have met with the occasion," ending firmly with the perfective "nu," and the poem breaks here. It too runs to six syllables.
The fourth line, "wasuru na kami mo," means "do not forget, O god, you too," breaking at the prohibitive particle "na." "Mo," "too," implies "just as I will not forget."
The last line, "yukusue no sora," means the days still to come, ending on a noun. Taking up "yume no yukusue" in the preceding poem, the Kumano poems close on the word "yukusue."
Author: Go-Toba In
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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