Toki no ma mo kokoro wa sora ni naru mono o ikade sugushishi mukashi naruramu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

時の間も心は空になるものを
いかで過ぐしし昔なるらむ

Roma-ji: Toki no ma mo kokoro wa sora ni naru mono o ikade sugushishi mukashi naruramu
English Translation: Even for a moment
away, my heart drifts off
into the empty sky;
how then did I pass the days
of the time so long ago?
Meaning: Even a moment apart sends my heart drifting into the sky; how, then, did I ever get through those days long ago, before we met?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 850

Headnote: "On the morning after becoming Motosuke's son-in-law"
The poem says that though even a brief moment apart sets the heart adrift, how was I able to pass the days long ago, before we met? It expresses the feeling of the morning after union, unable to bear separation even for a moment, as wonder at the self of the past.
According to the headnote, this is a morning-after poem sent upon becoming the son-in-law of Kiyohara no Motosuke, after first spending the night with his daughter. It sings of the joy of beginning to visit as a son-in-law and a heart that cannot bear even a moment apart.
The author, "Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason", is Fujiwara no Sanekata, son of Fujiwara no Sadatoki and adopted by his uncle Fujiwara no Naritoki. After serving as Middle Captain of the Left Inner Palace Guards he went down as governor of Mutsu and died there. He is one of the Later Thirty-Six Immortal Poets and is known for the Hyakunin Isshu poem "kaku to dani."

First line, "toki no ma mo," means "even for a brief moment," with "mo" giving emphasis.
Second line, "kokoro wa sora ni," means "the heart drifts to the sky." It shares with the final line of 909 in this book, "sora ni koso nare," the use of "sora," the sky, for a heart set adrift by love.
Third line, "naru mono o," means "though it becomes so," with "mono o" adversative.
Fourth line, "ikade sugushishi," means "how did I pass the time," with "ikade" interrogative and "shi" the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki."
Final line, "mukashi naruramu," means "that time long ago," with "ramu" conjecturing a cause. It closes in wonder at the past before they met.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Shui Wakashu
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