Wakarureba mazu namida koso saki ni tate ika de okururu sode no nuru ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

別るればまづ涙こそ先に立て
いかで後るる袖の濡るらん

Roma-ji: Wakarureba mazu namida koso saki ni tate ika de okururu sode no nuru ran
English Translation: When we have to part,
it is tears that first set out
ahead of all else;
how then can it be the sleeves
left behind that are so wet?
Meaning: When we part, it is the tears that go ahead of all else; why, then, is it the sleeves of the one left behind that grow wet?
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 324

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that at a parting it is the tears that set out first of all, so why should the sleeves of the one left behind be wet? Through the logical wit of contrasting tears that "go ahead" with sleeves that are "left behind," the poem expresses the unending tears of the one who sees another off.

First line, "wakarureba," means "when we part," the perfective form with "ba" expressing what always follows. It is the same as the first line of 320 in this book.
Second line, "mazu namida koso," means "first of all, the tears," emphasized by the particle "koso." It takes up "mazu wa tsuyukeki" in the preceding poem.
Third line, "saki ni tate," means "though they go on ahead," with "koso" resolved by the perfective "tate," which runs on into the lower verse as a concession.
Fourth line, "ika de okururu," means "why should those left behind," pairing "going ahead" in the third line with "being left behind." Like the fourth line of the preceding poem, it sings of "okururu sode."
Final line, "sode no nuru ran," means "why are the sleeves wet," with "ran" an auxiliary conjecturing a cause.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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