Yukusaki o oshimishi haru no asu yori wa kinishi kata ni mo narinu beki kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

行く先を惜しみし春の明日よりは
来にし方にもなりぬべきかな

Roma-ji: Yukusaki o oshimishi haru no asu yori wa kinishi kata ni mo narinu beki kana
English Translation: The spring I cherished,
regretting all that lay ahead,
from tomorrow on
must become a thing
of the time that's passed and gone
Meaning: The spring I cherished as something still ahead must, from tomorrow, become a thing of the past.
Commentary: Book Three Spring Poems III 142

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The spring the poet cherished as still to come will, from tomorrow, have become the past. Contrasting "yukusaki," what lies ahead, with "kinishi kata," what has gone, the poem captures the single day on the boundary where spring passes into the past.
From 141 to the closing poem of the book, 146, follows a sequence of poems regretting the last day of spring.
The poet, called "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū, served as a minor official in Kai and Izumi provinces, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

In the first line, "yukusaki" means what lies ahead, the future. The next poem, 143, also begins with "Yukusaki ni," taking up the same word.
In the second line, "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," naming the spring he has cherished till now.
The third line, "asu yori wa," points to the day after spring's last, the beginning of summer. It also echoes "asu to dani naki" in 145 of this book.
In the fourth line, "kinishi kata" means time gone by, the past, set against "yukusaki" in the first line.
In the last line, "nu beshi" means "will surely become," and "kana" expresses a sigh.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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