Amatsu hoshi michi mo yadori mo arinagara sora ni ukite mo omohoyuru kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

天つ星道も宿りもありながら
空にうきても思ほゆるかな

Roma-ji: Amatsu hoshi michi mo yadori mo arinagara sora ni ukite mo omohoyuru kana
English Translation: The stars of the heavens
have both their roads and their lodgings,
and yet as for me,
adrift in the empty sky,
how forlorn I seem to be.
Meaning: The stars in the heavens have both their paths and their lodgings, yet I feel as if I were drifting in the empty sky, forlorn and full of sorrow.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 479

Headnote: "Composed on the road into exile"
The poet says that the stars in the sky have their roads and their lodgings, yet he feels adrift in the sky. The headnote shows he composed it on the road to his demotion to Dazaifu. Contrasting the stars, which have fixed paths and lodgings, with himself, who has neither a set destination nor a place to rest, he expresses the anxiety and grief of an exile. The next poem, 480, is by the same author, so two poems in succession lament his banishment.
The author, the Posthumous Chancellor, is Sugawara no Michizane. A son of Sugawara no Koreyoshi, he was favored by Emperor Uda and rose to Minister of the Right, but was demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu and died there. After his death he was granted the Senior First Rank and the title of Chancellor. Poem 473 of this book was composed by his mother on the night of his coming of age.

First line, "amatsu hoshi," means "the stars of heaven."
Second line, "michi mo yadori mo," means "both roads and lodgings," the paths along which stars move and the mansions where they lodge.
Third line, "arinagara," means "though they have." The third line of 486 in this book is the same "arinagara."
Fourth line, "sora ni ukite mo," means "as if adrift in the sky." "Uki," floating in the sky, echoes "uki," sorrowful.
Final line, "omohoyuru kana," means "so it seems to me," with "omohoyu" meaning to be thought of itself and "kana" an exclamatory particle.
Author: Sugawara no Michizane
Source: Shui Wakashu
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