Kimi o omoi okitsu no hama ni naku tazu no tazune kureba zo ari to dani kiku - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君を思ひおきつの浜に鳴く鶴の
尋ね来ればぞありとだに聞く

Roma-ji: Kimi o omoi okitsu no hama ni naku tazu no tazune kureba zo ari to dani kiku
English Translation: Thinking of you,
keeping you in my heart, like the crane
crying on Okitsu's shore
I came seeking, and so at least
have heard that you are well.
Meaning: Keeping you in my heart, I came seeking you like a crane crying on the shore of Okitsu, and so at least I have heard that you are well.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 914

Headnote: "Sent when Tsurayuki was in Izumi Province, after crossing over from Yamato to visit him"
When Ki no Tsurayuki was in Izumi Province, Tadafusa crossed the mountains from Yamato to visit him and sent this poem. Because he came, thinking of his friend, he could at least hear that he was well, expressing both concern for his friend and joy in the visit.
The author, "Fujiwara no Tadafusa," is Fujiwara no Tadafusa, an official and poet of the early Heian period, versed in court music and said to have composed the dance piece Kochōraku.
The next poem, 915, is Tsurayuki's reply to this one.

First line "kimi o omoi" is hypermetric and begins from his feeling for his friend.
Second line "okitsu no hama ni": okitsu is a pivot word joining "keeping in mind" and Okitsu, a place in Izumi.
Third line "naku tazu no": tazu, crane, chimes with tazune in the fourth line, and the first three lines form a preface leading to it.
Fourth line "tazune kureba zo" stresses "precisely because I came seeking"; zo reaches to the last line.
Fifth line "ari to dani kiku" closes zo with the attributive kiku: I hear at least that you are well.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Naniwagata shio michikurashi amagoromo tamino no shima ni tazu nakiwataru
Next Poem: Okitsu nami takashi no hama no hamamatsu no na ni koso kimi o machiwataritsure