Koe o dani kikade wakaruru tama yori mo naki toko ni nemu kimi zo kanashiki - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

声をだに聞かで別るる魂よりも
亡き床に寝む君ぞ悲しき

Roma-ji: Koe o dani kikade wakaruru tama yori mo naki toko ni nemu kimi zo kanashiki
English Translation: More than my own soul
that departs without hearing
even your voice once,
it is you, who'll sleep alone
in my empty bed, I grieve for.
Meaning: More than for my own soul, leaving this world without even hearing your voice, I grieve for you, who will sleep alone in the bed where I will be no more.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 858

Headnote: "While her husband had gone down to a province, the woman suddenly fell ill and grew very weak; she composed this, left it behind, and passed away"
While her husband was away in a distant province, a wife whose illness suddenly worsened composed this poem and left it behind as she died. She says that more than herself, dying without even hearing her husband's voice, she grieves for him who will sleep alone in the bed she has left. Facing death, she thinks of the husband who will remain.
The author is unknown. The headnote shows it is the poem of a woman who died while her husband was away.

The first line, "even your voice," uses dani to name the least she could wish for.
The second line, "parting unheard," uses the negative de: departing without hearing.
The third line, "more than my soul," refers to her own soul leaving this world.
The fourth line, "who will sleep in the empty bed," uses mu for conjecture: the bed after she is gone.
The last line, "it is you I grieve for," closes in the attributive kanashiki after zo.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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