Yoso nagara yaman to mo sezu au koto wa ima koso kumo no taema naru rame - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

よそながら止まんともせず逢ふことは
今こそ雲の絶え間なるらめ

Roma-ji: Yoso nagara yaman to mo sezu au koto wa ima koso kumo no taema naru rame
English Translation: Even from afar
I do not mean for this to end;
as for our meeting,
now, if ever, is the time
the clouds will break apart
Meaning: I have no wish to let it end while we stay apart; as for our meeting, surely now is the moment when the clouds will part.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 535

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet answers that she has no wish to let it end while they stay apart, and that now surely is the time when the clouds will part for a meeting. Taking up the clouds of the preceding poem, she raises his hopes that a chance to meet is about to come.
It is a reply to the preceding poem. It answers "kumoi" and "yaminu" in the preceding poem with "kumo no taema" and "yaman."
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Yoso nagara," means "while we remain apart, distant."
The second line, "yaman to mo sezu," means "I do not intend to let it end," taking up "yaminu bakari ka" in the last line of the preceding poem.
The third line, "au koto wa," means "as for our meeting," the same line that opens the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "ima koso kumo no," means "now indeed, of the clouds," taking up "kumoi" in the preceding poem. "Koso" is an emphatic particle.
The last line, "taema naru rame," means "must be the break," closing with the perfective "rame" in answer to "koso" in the fourth line. "Shirakumo no taema wa" in the third and fourth lines of the next poem takes this up.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Au koto wa itodo kumoi no ōzora ni tatsu na nomi shite yaminu bakari ka
Next Poem: Ima nomi to tanomu naredomo shirakumo no taema wa itsu ka aran to suran