Toshi furedo ika naru hito ka toko furite ai omou hito ni wakarezaruran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年経れどいかなる人か床古りて
あひ思ふ人に別れざるらん

Roma-ji: Toshi furedo ika naru hito ka toko furite ai omou hito ni wakarezaruran
English Translation: Though the years go by,
what kind of people are they
who, till their beds grow old,
are never parted from
the one whose love they share?
Meaning: However the years go by, what sort of people are they who never part from the one they love, until their very bed grows old?
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1296

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed when he was grieving after the wife he loved had died"
The poet asks what sort of people they are who, as the years pass, never part from the one they love until their bed grows old. Like the preceding poem, 1295, its headnote marks it as composed while grieving the loss of a beloved wife. Envying couples who grow old together, he laments his own misfortune in having to part so early from the wife he loved.
The author, Ōe no Tamemoto, was a son of Ōe no Tadamitsu, of the Ōe house of scholars.

First line, "toshi furedo," means "though the years pass," with "do" a concessive particle.
Second line, "ika naru hito ka," means "what kind of people," with the binding particle "ka" resolved by the attributive "ran" in the final line.
Third line, "toko furite," means "till their bed grows old," growing old together.
Fourth line, "ai omou hito ni," means "from one who loves them in return," sharing "ai" with the second line of the preceding poem, 1295, "aimirubeshi to."
Final line, "wakarezaruran," means "are not parted," with "zaru" negative and "ran" the auxiliary of present conjecture.
Author: Ōe no Tamemoto
Source: Shui Wakashu
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