Okure ite waga koi oreba shirakumo no tanabiku yama o kyō ya koyu ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

後れゐてわが恋ひ居れば白雲の
たなびく山を今日や越ゆらん

Roma-ji: Okure ite waga koi oreba shirakumo no tanabiku yama o kyō ya koyu ran
English Translation: Left behind, I stay
and long for you, while today
the mountain draped
with trailing clouds of white—
are you crossing it, I wonder?
Meaning: While I stay behind and long for you, are you crossing today the mountain where the white clouds trail?
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 335

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
While the poet stays behind and longs for the traveler, he wonders whether the traveler is crossing today the mountain where white clouds trail. Contrasting himself in the capital with the traveler on a distant mountain road, the poem conveys his thoughts for one who grows ever farther away.

First line, "okure ite," means "left behind." Like "okururu sode" in 323 and 324 of this book, it sings of the heart of those who remain.
Second line, "waga koi oreba," means "while I long for you," the perfective form with "ba."
Third line, "shirakumo no," means "of white clouds." As in 304 and 311 of this book, clouds express a distant separation.
Fourth line, "tanabiku yama o," means "the mountain where they trail."
Final line, "kyō ya koyu ran," means "are you crossing it today," with "ya" a questioning particle and "ran" an auxiliary of present conjecture. Taking up the heart of the one who stays in the capital in the preceding poem, here too the one who remains thinks of the traveler.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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