Kyō wakare asu wa ōmi to omoedomo yo ya fukenu ramu sode no tsuyukeki - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今日別れ明日はあふみと思へども
夜や更けぬらむ袖の露けき

Roma-ji: Kyō wakare asu wa ōmi to omoedomo yo ya fukenu ramu sode no tsuyukeki
English Translation: Though we part today,
tomorrow you'll be in Ōmi,
"the land of meeting"—so I think,
yet has the night grown late?
how dew-drenched is my sleeve.
Meaning: We part today, and yet I tell myself that tomorrow you will be in Ōmi, a place whose very name means "meeting." Still, has the night grown so late? My sleeve is damp with dew.
Commentary: Book Eight Parting Poems 369

Headnote: "Composed on the night of a farewell banquet at the residence of Prince Sadatoki, when Fujiwara no Kiyoo was leaving to take up the post of Vice-Governor of Ōmi"
Though the traveler will reach Ōmi—a name that sounds like "meeting"—by tomorrow, and so there seems no need to grieve, the poet finds his sleeve wet as the night deepens, entrusting his tears of parting to the night dew. The poem was composed at a farewell banquet held at the residence of Prince Sadatoki, a son of Emperor Seiwa, for Fujiwara no Kiyoo, who was leaving for his post as Vice-Governor of Ōmi. Ōmi lies close to the capital, and while the poet finds comfort in the echo of "meeting" in its name, the lower verses reveal a heart that cannot hold back its tears.
The author, "Ki no Toshisada," was a son of Ki no Sadamori, Governor of Kai. He rose to Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, as Vice-Governor of Awa, and died in 881.

The first line, "Today we part," marks the moment of parting as "today," setting it against "tomorrow" in the second line. Since the opening poem of the book, 365, with its "departing," words of parting recur throughout this book, and this poem continues that current.
The second line, "tomorrow in Ōmi," is a pivot word joining the place name Ōmi with ōmi, "a body that meets." The poet tries to find consolation in the verbal logic that though we part today, tomorrow we shall be ones who meet.
The third line, "so I think," takes up that logic with the concessive particle domo and turns toward the felt reality of the lower verses.
The fourth line, "has the night grown late?" uses the binding of the particle ya with the conjectural auxiliary ramu to wonder whether the night has deepened. The poem breaks after this line.
The last line, "how dew-drenched my sleeve," ends on the attributive form of the adjective tsuyukeshi, presenting in inverted order the ground for the conjecture. While pretending that the moisture is night dew, it hints that it is in truth the tears of parting.
Author: Ki no Toshisada
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Tarachine no oya no mamori to aisouru
kokoro bakari wa seki na todome so
Next Poem: Kaeruyama ari to wa kikedo harugasumi tachi wakarenaba koishikaru beshi