Waga yado wa Harimagata ni mo aranaku ni akashi mo hatete hito no yukuran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が宿は播磨潟にもあらなくに
あかしもはてて人の行くらん

Roma-ji: Waga yado wa Harimagata ni mo aranaku ni akashi mo hatete hito no yukuran
English Translation: My dwelling is not
the tidal shore of Harima,
and yet why does he,
as if passing Akashi, leave
before the night has seen its dawn?
Meaning: My house is no shore of Harima, so why does he go off as though passing Akashi, leaving before he has stayed the night through to dawn?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 855

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks why, though my house is no shore of Harima, my lover goes off as if passing by Akashi, without even staying until the night has dawned. Through the wordplay of setting "akashi," to pass the night until dawn, on the Harima place-name Akashi, it sings of resentment toward a lover who leaves in haste.

First line, "waga yado wa," means "my house."
Second line, "Harimagata ni mo," means "even the tidal flats of Harima." Harima Province contains Akashi, named in the fourth line, so this lays the ground for that place-name.
Third line, "aranaku ni," means "though it is not," with "naku" a nominalized form of the negative "zu" and "ni" adversative.
Fourth line, "akashi mo hatete," is a pivot word joining the place-name Akashi and "akashi," passing the night until dawn, giving the sense "without even seeing the night through." "Hatete" may be read either as finishing the night or as reaching Akashi's end.
Final line, "hito no yukuran," means "why does he go away," with "ran" conjecturing a cause.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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