Akatsuki no wakare no michi o omowazu wa kureyuku sora wa ureshikaramashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

暁の別れの道を思はずは
暮れ行く空はうれしからまし

Roma-ji: Akatsuki no wakare no michi o omowazu wa kureyuku sora wa ureshikaramashi
English Translation: If I did not think
of the road of parting
when the dawn comes round,
then the sky as evening falls
would bring nothing but delight.
Meaning: If I did not think of the road home after parting at dawn, how glad I would be of the sky as it darkens toward evening.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 726

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that if the poet did not think of the road home after parting at dawn, the darkening evening sky would bring nothing but joy. Even while welcoming the dusk that brings the night of meeting, the poet cannot rejoice wholeheartedly at the thought of the parting at dawn that waits beyond, so the poem expresses the two faces of love's joy and sorrow. It pairs with the preceding poem, 725, which said nothing is so welcome as dusk.

First line, "akatsuki no," means "of the dawn," the same word as the first line of 715 in this book, "akatsuki no."
Second line, "wakare no michi o," means "the road of parting," the way home after parting.
Third line, "omowazu wa," means "if I did not think," with "zu wa" a negative supposition.
Fourth line, "kureyuku sora wa," means "the sky as it darkens," sharing the same words with the fourth line of the preceding poem, 725, "kureyuku bakari."
Final line, "ureshikaramashi," means "would be a joy," with "mashi" a counterfactual auxiliary. It pairs with the final line of the preceding poem, "ureshiki wa nashi."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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