Mukashi mishi kokoro bakari o shirube nite omoi zo okuru Iki no Matsubara - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

昔見し心ばかりをしるべにて
思ひぞ送るいきの松原

Roma-ji: Mukashi mishi kokoro bakari o shirube nite omoi zo okuru Iki no Matsubara
English Translation: Only the heart
that once beheld those places
serves me as a guide:
in thought I see you on your way
to the pines of Iki
Meaning: With nothing but the heart that remembers what I once saw there as my guide, I send you off in my thoughts, all the way to the pine grove of Iki where you are going.
Commentary: Book Seven Parting Poems 476

Headnote: "Composed at a farewell banquet for the envoy to Usa"
Composed at the farewell banquet for the Usa envoy, the messenger sent by the court to the Usa Hachiman Shrine in Tsukushi. With only the heart that remembers what he once saw there as a guide, the poet says, he will send the traveler off in his thoughts as far as the pine grove of Iki. Though his body stays in the capital, his heart alone will go with the traveler to the far land of Tsukushi. The poem opens the book of parting poems.
The author, "Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason," was the son of Chamberlain Fujiwara no Sadatoki. Adopted by his uncle Fujiwara no Naritoki, he rose to Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards. Later he went down to his post as Governor of Mutsu and died there. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals of the Middle Ages and has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
This poem opens the book of parting poems. The final poem, 497, closes the book by asking the one who departs not to set his heart apart, "kokoro hedatsu na." The "kokoro bakari o" of the opening and the "kokoro hedatsu na" of the close answer each other, both singing of hearts that stay joined across distance.

First line, "mukashi mishi": "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki," "that I once saw," referring to his memory of the land of Tsukushi.
Second line, "kokoro bakari o": the limiting "bakari," "only the heart." His body remains in the capital, and only his heart goes with the traveler. It answers "kokoro hedatsu na" in the book's final poem, 497, through the word "kokoro."
Third line, "shirube nite": "shirube" is a guide, "with old memories as my guide."
Fourth line, "omoi zo okuru": the emphatic "zo" closes with the attributive "okuru," sending the traveler off in thought.
Fifth line, "Iki no Matsubara": the pine grove of Iki, a poetic place in Chikuzen, where the place name "iki" also means "going," pointing to the traveler's destination. Ending on a noun, it leaves a lingering mood with a far-off place name.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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