Wakare chō koto wa tare ka wa hajimeken kurushiki mono to shirazu ya ariken - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

別れてふ事は誰かは始めけん
苦しきものと知らずやありけん

Roma-ji: Wakare chō koto wa tare ka wa hajimeken kurushiki mono to shirazu ya ariken
English Translation: This thing called parting—
who was it that first began
such a thing as this?
Did they not know how bitter
it would prove for all who part?
Meaning: Who was it that first began this thing called parting? Did they not know how painful it would be?
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 307

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks who first began this thing called parting, and whether that person did not know how painful it would be. Going beyond the parting at hand to resent parting itself, the poem conveys the depth of its pain.

First line, "wakare chō," means "this thing called parting," with "chō" a contraction of "to iu."
Second line, "koto wa tare ka wa," means "who was it," with "ka wa" strengthening the question.
Third line, "hajimeken," means "began, I wonder," with "ken" an auxiliary of past conjecture resolving "ka" in its attributive form. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kurushiki mono to," means "that it is painful."
Final line, "shirazu ya ariken," means "did they not know," with "ya" resolved by the attributive "ken." The third and final lines both end in "ken," piling question upon question. 336 of this book laments a world where people part while still alive, answering this poem as one that gazes at parting itself.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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