別れ行く今日はまどひぬあふさかは
帰り来む日の名にこそありけれ
帰り来む日の名にこそありけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Wakareyuku kyō wa madoinu ōsaka wa kaerikomu hi no na ni koso arikere
- English Translation
-
On this day of parting,
I was misled, for the name
of Ōsaka, Meeting Hill,
belongs, I now see,
to the day of your return.
- Meaning
- I was confused today as we parted, for the name Ōsaka, Meeting Slope, is the name of the day you will come back and we will meet again.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Parting Poems 314
Headnote: "When I saw off a person setting out on a journey as far as the barrier mountain"
Seeing off a traveler as far as the barrier of Ōsaka, the poet voices his confusion that they must part here despite the place's name meaning "meeting," and realizes that Ōsaka is the name of the day when the traveler returns and they meet again. Clinging to the "meeting" in the place name, he holds on to the hope of reunion. According to the headnote, it was composed when he saw off a person setting out on a journey as far as the barrier mountain of Ōsaka.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "wakareyuku," means "parting and going."
Second line, "kyō wa madoinu," means "today I was mistaken," with "nu" a perfective auxiliary. The poem pauses here.
Third line, "ōsaka wa," plays on the place name Ōsaka and "au," to meet again. The next poem, 315, also sings of parting at Ōsaka, so poems of Ōsaka stand together.
Fourth line, "kaerikomu hi no," means "of the day when you will return."
Final line, "na ni koso arikere," means "it was the name," with "kere" expressing the exclamation of realization, resolving "koso" in the perfective form.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Wakareji wa koishiki hito no fumi nare ya yarade nomi koso mimaku hoshikere
- Next Poem
-
Yukusue no inochi mo shiranu wakareji wa kyō ōsaka ya kagiri naru ran