Kouru ma ni toshi no kurenaba naki hito no wakare ya itodo tōku narinan - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋ふる間に年の暮れなばなき人の
別れやいとど遠くなりなむ

Roma-ji: Kouru ma ni toshi no kurenaba naki hito no wakare ya itodo tōku narinan
English Translation: If, while I still long,
the year should come to its close,
then from the one gone
will our parting not draw on
farther and farther away
Meaning: If the year should end while I am still longing for her, will not our parting from the one who is gone grow ever more distant?
Commentary: Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1425

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet asks whether, if the year ends while one is longing, the parting from the dead will grow ever more distant. Answering the preceding poem's lament, he says that as the year closes, far from her coming back, the parting will recede further into the past, keeping company with his friend's unending grief.
It is the reply to the preceding poem by Fujiwara no Kanesuke. Whereas the book opened with 1368, a poem celebrating long life through ten thousand ages, it closes with a poem on a parting that recedes with the ending of the year.
The poet, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the chief compiler of the Kokinshu and wrote its Japanese preface. He is also known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Hito wa isa kokoro mo shirazu furusato wa."

The first line, "Kouru ma ni," means "while I long."
The second line, "toshi no kurenaba," means "if the year should end," with "naba" a supposition, taking up "kureyuku" in the preceding poem's fourth line.
The third line, "naki hito no," means "of the one who is gone," the same words as the preceding poem's first line.
The fourth line, "wakare ya itodo," means "the parting, all the more," with "ya" an interrogative binding particle.
The last line, "tōku narinan," means "will it grow distant," closing the "ya" with the attributive "nan."
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Naki hito no tomo ni shi kaeru toshi naraba kureyuku kyō wa ureshikaramashi