Azumaji no Saya no Nakayama nakanaka ni aimite nochi zo wabishikarikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

東路の佐夜の中山なかなかに
逢ひ見てのちぞわびしかりける

Roma-ji: Azumaji no Saya no Nakayama nakanaka ni aimite nochi zo wabishikarikeru
English Translation: Along the eastern road
lies Saya no Nakayama—
and against all hope,
since we met at last as lovers,
it is all the harder to bear
Meaning: Like the "naka" of Saya no Nakayama on the eastern road, it is only after we have met as lovers that, against all expectation, the pain has grown harder to bear.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 507

Headnote: "To someone he had at last come to know as a lover, when there were reasons for discretion and meeting had become difficult."
The poet says that, having at last met his beloved and then found meeting difficult for reasons of discretion, it is only after they have met that the pain has become harder to bear. The poem conveys that the pain of not meeting after a first meeting runs deeper than the longing that comes before.
According to the headnote, it was composed when, after he had at last become intimate with someone, circumstances requiring discretion made meeting difficult. It is the opening poem of this book, so that Love Poems I begins with the grief of love after a meeting. 564 in this book also sings of the misery of not meeting after having met, sharing the same theme.
The poet, called "Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason," is Minamoto no Muneyuki. A grandson of Emperor Kōkō and a son of Prince Koretada, he was made a commoner and served as Master of the Right Capital Office, among other posts. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, and his "yamazato wa fuyu zo sabishisa masarikeru" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Azumaji no," means "of the road from the capital to the eastern provinces."
The second line, "Saya no Nakayama," is a mountain pass in the province of Tōtōmi, a poetic place known as a hard stretch of the Tōkaidō. The first two lines form a preface that repeats the sound "naka" to lead to "nakanaka ni" in the third line.
The third line, "nakanaka ni," means "rather, against expectation, all the more."
The fourth line, "aimite nochi zo," means "after we have become lovers," with "zo" an emphatic particle. It shares the conceit of "aite no nochi no" in the fourth line of 564 in this book.
The last line, "wabishikarikeru," means "it is painful," closing with the attributive "keru" in answer to "zo" in the fourth line, a kakarimusubi pattern. The next poem, 508, also closes with "wabishikarikere."
Author: Minamoto no Muneyuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mono omou to suguru tsukihi mo shiranu ma ni kotoshi wa kyō ni hatenu to ka kiku
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