Yū sareba ne ni yuku oshi no hitori shite tsumagoi su naru koe no kanashisa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夕されば寝に行く鴛のひとりして
妻恋ひすなる声の悲しさ

Roma-ji: Yū sareba ne ni yuku oshi no hitori shite tsumagoi su naru koe no kanashisa
English Translation: When the evening comes,
the mandarin duck that goes
to its nest, alone,
seems to call out for its mate—
how sorrowful its cry
Meaning: As evening falls, the mandarin duck going to its roost alone seems to be crying for its lost mate—how sad that voice is.
Commentary: Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1400

Headnote: "When a woman he had known died, and while he was longing for her, a mandarin duck cried late at night."
The poet sings of the sadness of the cry of a mandarin duck going alone to its roost at dusk, calling for its mate. Late at night while mourning a woman dear to him, he hears a mandarin duck, a bird that should be with its mate, crying alone, and grieves as he sees his own lot in it.
According to the headnote, a woman he had been close to died, and while he was longing for her, a mandarin duck cried late at night. The text of the second line reads "ne ni yuku oshi no," which does not agree with the reading line, "ne ni naku oshi no." The text's wording is followed here.
The poet, "the Kan'in Minister of the Left," is Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu. A son of Fujiwara no Uchimaro, he won the trust of Emperor Saga as Head Chamberlain and rose to Minister of the Left. Called the Kan'in Minister of the Left after his residence, he laid the foundations of the Northern Fujiwara house's prosperity.

The first line, "Yū sareba," means "when evening comes."
The second line, "ne ni yuku oshi no," means "of the mandarin duck going to its roost," a bird held to be devoted to its mate.
The third line, "hitori shite," means "all alone," overlaid with the poet himself, bereft of his companion.
The fourth line, "tsumagoi su naru," means "seems to cry for its mate," with "naru" an inference from the sound.
The last line, "koe no kanashisa," means "how sad the cry," ending on a noun.
Author: Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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