Harugasumi hakanaku tachite wakaru tomo kaze yori hoka ni tare ka toubeki - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春霞はかなくたちて別るとも
風より外に誰か訪ふべき

Roma-ji: Harugasumi hakanaku tachite wakaru tomo kaze yori hoka ni tare ka toubeki
English Translation: Like the haze of spring
that rises and fades away,
though you leave me so,
who but the wind, tell me,
would come to call on you
Meaning: Even if you leave me, rising and drifting away like the spring haze, who but the wind would come to call on you?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 929

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that even if the beloved rises and departs like spring haze, who but the wind would come to call. Likening the departing one to spring haze and himself to the wind that blows toward it, he says that wherever she goes, he alone will come to her.
The next poem, 930, is Ise's reply, taking up the words haze and wind to form an exchange.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us. The main text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which indicates that the composer is unknown.

The first line, "Harugasumi," means "spring haze," standing for the one who leaves.
The second line, "hakanaku tachite," means "rising frailly," with "tatsu" joining haze rising and setting out on a journey.
The third line, "wakaru tomo," means "even if you part from me," with "tomo" a conjunctive particle of concessive supposition.
The fourth line, "kaze yori hoka ni," means "other than the wind," the poet likening himself to the wind that visits the haze.
The last line, "tare ka toubeki," means "who would come? no one," with "ka" a rhetorical binding particle closed by the attributive "beki."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Wasurene to iishi ni kanau kimi naredo towanu wa tsuraki mono ni zo arikeru
Next Poem: Me ni mienu kaze ni kokoro o taguetsutsu yaraba kasumi no wakare koso seme