Wakareji wa koishiki hito no fumi nare ya yarade nomi koso mimaku hoshikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

別れ路は恋しき人のふみなれや
やらでのみこそ見まくほしけれ

Roma-ji: Wakareji wa koishiki hito no fumi nare ya yarade nomi koso mimaku hoshikere
English Translation: Is the road of parting
a letter from my beloved,
trod on as I read?
Not sending it on, I'd keep it
and only long to gaze upon it.
Meaning: Is the road of parting a letter from the one I love? I would never send it away, but only wish to keep gazing at it, as I would never let you go.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 313

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Likening the road of parting to a letter from a beloved, the poet says that, just as one would keep such a letter rather than pass it on, he would keep the traveler from going and gaze at him forever. It is a poem of wit layering the two puns of "fumi" and "yarade," expressing the wish to hold the traveler back.

First line, "wakareji wa," means "the road of parting."
Second line, "koishiki hito no," means "of the one I love."
Third line, "fumi nare ya," plays on "fumi" as a letter from the beloved and as treading the road, meaning "is it a letter?" The particle "ya" is a questioning particle, and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "yarade nomi koso," plays on "yarade" as not passing the letter on to another and as not letting the traveler go, strengthened by the particle "koso." In 311 two poems earlier the poet wished to send ("yaramahoshi") the breeze of a fan, while here the poet wishes not to send ("yarade"), forming a pair around sending.
Final line, "mimaku hoshikere," means "I would wish to keep looking," with "mimaku" a nominalized form of "mimu," and "koso" resolved by the perfective "hoshikere."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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