Yūyami wa michi mo mienedo furusato wa moto koshi koma ni makasete zo kuru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夕闇は道も見えねど故郷は
もと来し駒にまかせてぞ来る

Roma-ji: Yūyami wa michi mo mienedo furusato wa moto koshi koma ni makasete zo kuru
English Translation: In the evening dark
I cannot even see the road,
yet to this old place
I have come, leaving the way
to the horse that knew it once
Meaning: In the evening dark I cannot even see the road, yet to this old familiar place I have come, trusting myself to the horse that brought me here before.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 978

Headnote: "Composed on going to someone he had forgotten."
The poet says that though he cannot see the road in the evening dark, he has come to the old familiar place by trusting the horse that brought him before. He explains his visit to a woman long forgotten, almost to hide his embarrassment, by saying the horse that once knew the way remembered it and brought him.
According to the headnote, he composed it on going to someone he had forgotten. The next poem, 979, is the woman's reply, taking up "koma ni makasete."
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Yūyami wa," means "in the evening dark," the darkness before moonrise.
The second line, "michi mo mienedo," means "though I cannot see even the road," with "do" an adversative conjunctive particle.
The third line, "furusato wa," means "to the old familiar place," the house of the woman he once visited.
The fourth line, "moto koshi koma ni," means "to the horse that came before."
The last line, "makasete zo kuru," means "trusting to it I come," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "kuru."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kazu naranu mi wa ukikusa to narinanan tsurenaki hito ni yorube shirareji
Next Poem: Koma ni koso makasetarikere ayanaku mo kokoro no kuru to omoikeru kana