Hisakata no amatsu sora ni mo sumanaku ni hito wa yoso ni zo omou beranaru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

久方の天つ空にも住まなくに
人はよそにぞ思ふべらなる

Roma-ji: Hisakata no amatsu sora ni mo sumanaku ni hito wa yoso ni zo omou beranaru
English Translation: Though I do not dwell
in the far and endless sky
of the heavens high,
it seems she thinks of me still
as one who lives far away
Meaning: I do not live in the distant sky of heaven, and yet she seems to think of me as someone far away and apart from her.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 751

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poem laments that although he does not live in heaven, she treats him as a distant stranger. Bringing in the remoteness of the sky makes the gap between their hearts all the greater.
The author, "Motokata," is Ariwara no Motokata, son of Ariwara no Muneyana and grandson of Ariwara no Narihira. He was taken as a ward by the Major Counselor Fujiwara no Kunitsune.

The first line is a pillow word for "heaven" and "sky."
The second line means the sky of heaven, a place far beyond reach; mo adds "even."
In the third line nakuni, an old nominalized form of the negative zu, means "though I do not dwell."
In the fourth line yoso means an unrelated place or estranged relation, matching the distance of the sky. The particle zo is resolved by the attributive form in the last line.
The last line uses the auxiliary beranari, an early Heian word from Chinese-reading style, in attributive form to resolve zo. The next poem also ends with beranari, and the two stand side by side sharing this usage.
Author: Ariwara no Motokata
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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