Yukusue no inochi mo shiranu wakareji wa kyō ōsaka ya kagiri naru ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

行く末の命も知らぬ別れ路は
今日あふさかや限りなるらん

Roma-ji: Yukusue no inochi mo shiranu wakareji wa kyō ōsaka ya kagiri naru ran
English Translation: On the road of parting
where none knows how long life
will last in years to come,
is today at Meeting Hill
to be the last time we meet?
Meaning: On this road of parting, where we cannot know how long our lives will last, will today's meeting here at Ōsaka be our last?
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 315

Headnote: "When I was coming up from Ise, a woman with whom I had secretly been intimate was going down to the East, and as we happened to meet at Ōsaka, I sent this"
On a parting where neither knows what lies ahead for their lives, the poet wonders whether meeting today here at Ōsaka will be the last. Having met by chance at a place whose name means "meeting," he expresses the irony and grief that this may be a final farewell. According to the headnote, as the poet was coming up to the capital from Ise, a woman with whom he had been secretly intimate was going down to the East, and he sent this poem when they met at Ōsaka.
The author, written as Yoshinobu, is Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu. From the Ōnakatomi family, who served as chief priests of the Ise Shrine, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "yukusue no," means "of the days ahead."
Second line, "inochi mo shiranu," means "not knowing even what will become of our lives."
Third line, "wakareji wa," means "on the road of parting."
Fourth line, "kyō ōsaka ya," plays on "au," having met today, and the place name Ōsaka, with "ya" a questioning particle. The preceding poem, 314, sang of Ōsaka as the name of the day of reunion, while here the same Ōsaka is feared to be the last meeting, hope and anxiety forming a pair.
Final line, "kagiri naru ran," means "will it be the last," with "ya" resolved by the attributive "ran." It is the same final line as that of 312 in this book.
Author: Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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