Hitoyari no michi naranaku ni ōkata wa iki ushi to iite iza kaerinamu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人やりの道ならなくにおほかたは
行き憂しと言ひていざ帰りなむ

Roma-ji: Hitoyari no michi naranaku ni ōkata wa iki ushi to iite iza kaerinamu
English Translation: It is not a road
that someone forced upon me;
so, all in all,
saying "It's hard to go,"
come, let us all turn back.
Meaning: This is no journey someone ordered me to take. So why not simply say, "It is too hard to go," and all turn back home together?
Commentary: Book Eight Parting Poems 388

Headnote: "Composed when people who had come from Yamazaki to the Grove of Kannabi to see him off could hardly bring themselves to turn back and lamented the parting"
The people seeing him off had come from Yamazaki as far as the Grove of Kannabi and, reluctant to turn back, were lamenting the parting; the departing Minamoto no Sane himself composed this poem. Since this is a journey of his own choosing, he suggests that he might as well say it is too hard to go and return with everyone, answering the affection of those seeing him off with his own reluctance to part.
The author, "Minamoto no Sane," served as Provisional Minor Captain of the Left Inner Palace Guards and as Chamberlain, and died in 900.

The first line, "not a road someone forced," uses hitoyari, "done at another's command," implying that the journey is of his own will. It is the second poem in the series seeing off Minamoto no Sane that continues from the preceding poem.
The second line, "it is not a road," uses naku ni, "though it is not," to confirm that the journey is not compelled.
The third line, "all in all," means "rather" or "simply," leading to a bold decision.
The fourth line, "saying it's hard to go," uses ushi, "painful," to put into words the heaviness of continuing the journey. The line has an extra syllable.
The last line, "come, let us turn back," ends with the inviting iza, the emphatic na, and the volitional mu: come, let us go home.
Author: Minamoto no Sane
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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