Kumoji o mo shiranu ware sae morogoe ni kyō bakari to zo nakikaerinuru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雲路をも知らぬ我さへもろ声に
今日ばかりとぞなきかへりぬる

Roma-ji: Kumoji o mo shiranu ware sae morogoe ni kyō bakari to zo nakikaerinuru
English Translation: Even I who know
nothing of the paths through clouds
raised my voice with theirs,
and crying "this day is the last,"
wept and wept as they flew home
Meaning: Even I, who know nothing of the roads through the clouds, joined my voice with theirs and wept again and again, crying that today was the last.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems IV 1276

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that even she, who knows nothing of the paths through the clouds, wept over and over with them, crying that this day was the last. Seeing off one who departs like birds flying home across the sky, the poem seems to sing of the grief of parting, the poet who knows no sky-road weeping aloud alongside them.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known.

The first line, "Kumoji o mo," means "even the paths through the clouds," the roads of birds crossing the sky. Poem 1222 of Book Seventeen likewise sings of the "kumoji" where birds come and go.
The second line, "shiranu ware sae," means "even I who do not know," with "sae" adding a further case; the poet is not a bird that crosses the sky.
The third line, "morogoe ni," means "with voices joined."
The fourth line, "kyō bakari to zo," means "crying this day is the last," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle.
The last line, "nakikaerinuru," is a pivot word on "naki," both a bird's crying and a person's weeping: wept over and over, with "kaeru" echoing the birds' going home. The "zo" of the fourth line is closed by the attributive "nuru."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mi no uki o shireba hashita ni narinubemi omoi wa mune no kogare nomi suru
Next Poem: Madaki kara omoi koki iro ni somemu to ya wakamurasaki no ne o tazunuran