Azumaji no kusaba o waken hito yori mo okururu sode zo mazu wa tsuyukeki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

東路の草葉を分けん人よりも
後るる袖ぞまづは露けき

Roma-ji: Azumaji no kusaba o waken hito yori mo okururu sode zo mazu wa tsuyukeki
English Translation: More than the one
who will part the grassy leaves
on the eastern road,
it is the sleeves left behind
that are first soaked through with dew.
Meaning: More than the traveler who will push through the grassy leaves of the eastern road, it is the sleeves of us who are left behind that are first wet with dew.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 323

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "At the farewell for the same imperial nurse, when the courtiers of the Privy Chamber, the ladies-in-waiting, and others lamented the parting"
The poet says that the sleeves of those left behind are wet with tears before those of the traveler who will push through the dewy grasses of the eastern road. Comparing the dew of the road with the tears of those who see the traveler off, she conveys the depth of sorrow of those left behind. According to the headnote, it was composed at the same farewell for the nurse Higo as the preceding poem.
The author, called Mikawa the female chamberlain, was a female chamberlain who served at court in Emperor Murakami's time, Mikawa being her name at court. Little is known of her life.

First line, "azumaji no," means "of the road to the East." Because one went down to Dewa by way of the Eastern Mountain Road, the journey is called the eastern road.
Second line, "kusaba o waken," means "who will push through the grassy leaves," with "n" a conjectural auxiliary. Since dew settles on the grass, it suggests the traveler's sleeves will be wet.
Third line, "hito yori mo," means "more than the traveler."
Fourth line, "okururu sode zo," means "the sleeves of those left behind," emphasized by the particle "zo." The next poem, 324, also sings of "okururu sode," so poems of the tears of those who remain stand together.
Final line, "mazu wa tsuyukeki," means "are first wet with dew," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "tsuyukeki." It echoes "mazu namida koso" in the next poem.
Author: Mikawa, Female Chamberlain
Source: Shui Wakashu
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