Naki hito no tomo ni shi kaeru toshi naraba kureyuku kyō wa ureshikaramashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なき人のともにし帰る年ならば
暮れゆく今日は嬉しからまし

Roma-ji: Naki hito no tomo ni shi kaeru toshi naraba kureyuku kyō wa ureshikaramashi
English Translation: If this were a year
that would bring her back to me
returning with it,
then today, as it grows dark,
how glad I would have been
Meaning: If this were a year that would return bringing her back along with it, how glad I would be on this day as it darkens to its close.
Commentary: Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1424

Headnote: "On the last day of the Twelfth Month of the year his wife died, while they were talking of old times."
The poet says that if it were a year that brought the dead back with it, this closing day would be a happy one. On the last day of the year in which his wife died, he grieves that while the year comes round again, his wife does not, his sorrow deepening as the year ends.
According to the headnote, it was composed on the last day of the Twelfth Month in the year his wife died, as they talked of old times. The next poem is Ki no Tsurayuki's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, "Lord Kanesuke," is Fujiwara no Kanesuke. A son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto, he rose to Middle Counselor. Called the Tsutsumi Middle Counselor for his mansion on the banks of the Kamo River, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. He was the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu, and the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Mikanohara wakite nagaruru Izumigawa."

The first line, "Naki hito no," means "the one who is gone."
The second line, "tomo ni shi kaeru," means "returning along with it," with "shi" emphatic, drawing on the idea of the year "returning" as it turns.
The third line, "toshi naraba," means "if it were such a year," with "ba" a supposition.
The fourth line, "kureyuku kyō wa," means "today, the last day, as it grows dark."
The last line, "ureshikaramashi," means "how glad I would be," answering "naraba" in the third line as a counterfactual.
Author: Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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