Yukusaki o shiranu namida no kanashiki wa tada me no mae ni otsuru narikeri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

行く先を知らぬ涙の悲しきは
ただ目の前に落つるなりけり

Roma-ji: Yukusaki o shiranu namida no kanashiki wa tada me no mae ni otsuru narikeri
English Translation: Knowing not the road
that lies ahead, my tears are
sad, and that is because
they only fall, I see,
just before my eyes
Meaning: What is sad about these tears, shed not knowing what lies ahead, is that they simply fall right there before my eyes.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1333

Headnote: "When he was going up to the capital from Dewa and various people gave him a farewell banquet, taking up a wine cup."
The poet says that what makes tears shed without knowing the road ahead so sad is that they merely fall before his eyes. At a farewell banquet, he grieves that the tears he sheds over a journey whose end he cannot know only fall right before his eyes.
According to the headnote, as he was going up to the capital from Dewa, people gave him a farewell banquet, and he took up a wine cup and composed this.
The poet, "Minamoto no Wataru," seems to be Minamoto no Wataru, though little is known of his life.

The first line, "Yukusaki o," means "the road ahead."
The second line, "shiranu namida no," means "of tears that do not know."
The third line, "kanashiki wa," means "what is sad."
The fourth line, "tada me no mae ni," means "just before my eyes," contrasting the far road ahead with what is right before him.
The last line, "otsuru narikeri," means "is that they fall, I see," with "narikeri" for realization.
Author: Minamoto no Watasu
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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