Karisome no yukikaiji to zo omoikoshi ima wa kagiri no kadode narikeri - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かりそめの行き交ひ路とぞ思ひ来し
今は限りの門出なりけり

Roma-ji: Karisome no yukikaiji to zo omoikoshi ima wa kagiri no kadode narikeri
English Translation: I had thought of it
as a journey there and back,
only for a while;
but now I see it was
the setting forth that ends all.
Meaning: I set out thinking it would be only a brief journey there and back, but now it has become my final departure.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 862

Headnote: "He set out to visit an acquaintance in the province of Kai, but on the way he suddenly fell ill and was near death; he composed this poem and gave it to someone, saying, 'Take it back to the capital and show it to my mother'"
The poet set out to visit an acquaintance in Kai, but fell suddenly ill on the way and was near death; he composed this poem and gave it to someone, asking that it be carried back to the capital and shown to his mother. He had thought it only a brief journey there and back, but it became his final departure. Tinged with love for his mother and regret at a sudden death, the poem closes the book of laments.
Following the death poem of Narihira in the preceding poem, the death poem of his son is placed at the end, so that father and son close the book together.
The author, Ariwara no Shigeharu, was the second son of Ariwara no Narihira and was known as a poet.

The first line, "a passing," means only for a short while.
The second line, "a road there and back," names a journey of going and returning, stressed with zo.
The third line, "I had thought as I came," closes in the attributive shi after zo. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "now the final," means "now it is the last."
The last line, "was the setting out," expresses realization with keri. Where the book's opening poem, 829, longed for the return of the dead, this closing poem sings of a departure with no return, so that the beginning and end of the book answer each other.
Author: Ariwara no Shigeharu
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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