Akatsuki to nani ka iiken wakarureba yoi mo ito koso wabishikarikere - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

暁と何か言ひけん別るれば
宵もいとこそわびしかりけれ

Roma-ji: Akatsuki to nani ka iiken wakarureba yoi mo ito koso wabishikarikere
English Translation: "The dawn," they say—
why did they ever say so?
When we have to part,
even early evening, too,
is more than I can bear
Meaning: Why did they ever say it is the dawn that makes partings painful? When we must part, even the early evening is bitterly hard to bear.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 508

Headnote: "He was talking with a woman he visited in secret, but people became noisy around them, so he went home and sent this."
The poet asks why people ever said that parting is painful at dawn, for when one must part, even the early evening is bitterly hard. Overturning the notion that the lovers' parting belongs to daybreak, the poem appeals with the pain of a parting torn apart while it was still evening.
According to the headnote, he was talking with a woman he visited in secret when people around them grew noisy, so he went home and sent this. Like the preceding poem, it closes with "wabishikari," layering the pain of not being able to meet as one wishes.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū and served as Governor of Tosa, among other posts. Known also as the author of the Tosa Diary, he is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "Akatsuki to," means "that it is the dark before dawn," the hour when lovers part.
In the second line, "ka" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "ken": "why did they ever say so?" The poem pauses here.
The third line, "wakarureba," means "when we part," with "ba" expressing a definite condition.
The fourth line, "yoi mo ito koso," means "even in the early evening, so very," with "koso" an emphatic particle. "Akatsuki" in the first line and "yoi" in the fourth stand as a pair.
The last line, "wabishikarikere," means "it was painful indeed," closing with the perfective "kere" in answer to "koso" in the fourth line. It echoes "wabishikarikeru," which closes the preceding poem.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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