Kureba toku yukite kataramu au toki no Tōchi no sato no sumiukarishi mo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

暮れば疾く行きて語らむ逢ふ時の
とをちの里の住み憂かりしも

Roma-ji: Kureba toku yukite kataramu au toki no Tōchi no sato no sumiukarishi mo
English Translation: When the evening falls,
quickly I will go and tell
how, with our meeting
far away, in Tōchi village
it was hard indeed to stay.
Meaning: When evening falls, I will go to you at once and tell you how hard it was to stay in the village of Tōchi, where the time of meeting you lay so far away.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1197

Headnote: "Sent to a woman immediately on returning from serving as envoy to the Kasuga Festival"
The poet says that when evening falls he will hurry to her and tell her how hard it was to stay in the village of Tōchi, when the time of meeting her was so far away. The headnote shows it was sent to a woman as soon as he returned to the capital from serving as imperial envoy to the Kasuga Festival in Nara. Pivoting the name of Tōchi village in Yamato, passed on the journey, on "tō," far, it conveys his eagerness to see her again and to tell of the hard days apart.
The author, written as "the Ichijō Regent," is Fujiwara no Koretada. The eldest son of the Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Morosuke, he rose to Regent and Chancellor, and he served as Director of the Bureau of Poetry when the Gosenshū was compiled.
The third line of the main text reads "au toki no," which does not match "au koto no" in the reading line. Here the main text is followed.

First line, "kureba toku," means "as soon as evening falls," with "ba" after the irrealis form expressing supposition.
Second line, "yukite kataramu," means "I will go and tell," with "mu" an auxiliary of intention. The poem breaks after this second line, and the lower verse gives what he will tell in inverted order.
Third line, "au toki no," means "the time of meeting you," running into "tō" in the fourth line to mean that the time of meeting was far away.
Fourth line, "Tōchi no sato no," is a pivot word: "Tōchi" is the place name in Yamato and also "tō," far, as in the time of meeting lying far off.
Final line, "sumiukarishi mo," means "and how hard it was to stay," with "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki" and "mo" for emphasis.
Author: Fujiwara no Koretada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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