Yūke tou ura ni mo yoku ari koyoi dani kozaramu kimi o itsu ka matsubeki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夕占問ふ占にもよくあり今宵だに
来ざらむ君をいつか待つべき

Roma-ji: Yūke tou ura ni mo yoku ari koyoi dani kozaramu kimi o itsu ka matsubeki
English Translation: I sought the oracle
at evening, and it was good;
if even tonight
you should fail to come to me,
when am I to wait for you?
Meaning: I asked the evening oracle and it came out well; if you do not come even tonight, when am I ever to wait for you?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 807

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that the evening oracle has come out favorably, so if the beloved does not come even tonight, when is one to wait for them? Pinning hope on tonight, when the oracle is good, it protests that if they still do not come, there is no other time to wait.
The author, "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, a court poet of the Asuka period revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Many Man'yōshū poems are included in the Shūishū under Hitomaro's name.

First line, "yūke tou," means "consulting the evening oracle." It is the same line as the third line of the preceding poem, 806, the second poem on the evening oracle.
Second line, "ura ni mo yoku ari," means "the oracle too comes out well," a line with an extra syllable. Taking up the wish "ura masa ni seyo" in the preceding poem, it says the oracle has come out well.
Third line, "koyoi dani," means "even tonight," with "dani" an adverbial particle naming something light to imply something heavier.
Fourth line, "kozaramu kimi o," means "you who would not come."
Final line, "itsu ka matsubeki," means "when should I wait," with "ka" an interrogative binding particle and "beki" the attributive form concluding in answer to it.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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