Wakarureba kokoro o nomi zo tsukushigushi sashite au beki hodo o shiraneba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

別るれば心をのみぞつくし櫛
さして逢ふべきほどを知らねば

Roma-ji: Wakarureba kokoro o nomi zo tsukushigushi sashite au beki hodo o shiraneba
English Translation: Now that we must part,
I can only spend my heart
like a Tsukushi comb,
for I know not when we'll meet,
when it may be set in place.
Meaning: Now that we part, I can only exhaust my heart in longing, for like this Tsukushi comb set in the hair, I cannot point to a time when we might meet again.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 320

Headnote: "When Tomomasa Ason went down as Governor of Higo, and his wife Hizen went down with him, on bestowing a Tsukushi comb, robes, and other gifts"
The emperor says that once they part, he can only spend his heart in longing, not knowing when they may meet again. Through the gift of a Tsukushi comb, playing on "tsukushi" as exhausting the heart and as Tsukushi, and on "sashite" as setting a comb in the hair and as pointing to a time, he expresses his regret at parting with a lady who had served him. According to the headnote, when Tomomasa Ason went down as Governor of Higo, his wife Hizen, who had served at court, went down with him, and the emperor composed this as he bestowed a Tsukushi comb, robes, and other gifts.
The author, written as "Tenryaku imperial composition," is Emperor Murakami. A son of Emperor Daigo, his reign was praised as the Tenryaku rule. He established a poetry bureau in the Pear Chamber and ordered the compilation of the Gosenshū.

First line, "wakarureba," means "once we part," the perfective form with "ba" expressing what always follows. The first line of 324 in this book also begins with the same "wakarureba."
Second line, "kokoro o nomi zo," means "only my heart," emphasized by the particle "zo."
Third line, "tsukushigushi," plays on "tsukushi," exhausting the heart, and Tsukushi, the old name of Kyushu, and names a comb made in Tsukushi. Higo was one of the provinces of Tsukushi, so it also alludes to the post.
Fourth line, "sashite au beki," plays on "sashite" as setting a comb in the hair and as pointing to a definite time, meaning "when we could meet at an appointed time." "Sasu" is an associated word for the comb.
Final line, "hodo o shiraneba," means "since I do not know the time," giving the reason afterward by inversion.
Author: Emperor Murakami
Source: Shui Wakashu
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