Arazu nomi nariyuku tabi no wakareji ni tenareshi koto no ne koso kawarane - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あらずのみなりゆく旅の別れ路に
手馴れし琴の音こそ変はらね

Roma-ji: Arazu nomi nariyuku tabi no wakareji ni tenareshi koto no ne koso kawarane
English Translation: On the parting road
of a journey where all things
grow unlike themselves,
only the sound of the koto
worn to my hand does not change
Meaning: On this road of parting, where everything becomes other than it was, only the sound of the koto so familiar to my hand remains unchanged.
Commentary: Book Seven Parting Poems 495

Headnote: "Composed on the feelings of Wang Zhaojun"
Composed in the voice of Wang Zhaojun, a lady of the court of Emperor Yuan of the Former Han, known for being married off to the king of the Xiongnu and setting out for a distant foreign land. On the road of parting where everything becomes other than it was, only the sound of the familiar koto does not change, the poet says. Amid the sorrow of leaving her homeland for an unknown land, the very fact that the music she knows remains as before deepens her grief.
The author, "Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Sanesada, son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Kinyoshi. He was Minister of the Right when the Senzai Wakashū was compiled and later rose to Minister of the Left. Called the Later Tokudaiji Minister of the Left, he has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
In the preceding poem an exile entrusts a secret koto piece to his pupil, and in this one Wang Zhaojun, setting out for a foreign land, takes comfort in the sound of her familiar instrument. Two parting poems tied to music stand side by side.

First line, "arazu nomi": "nothing as it was," everything changing.
Second line, "nariyuku tabi no": "of a journey on which all becomes."
Third line, "wakareji ni": the road of parting from her homeland. The same word appears in 479, 487 and 491 of this book.
Fourth line, "tenareshi koto no": "tenare" is to grow familiar with use, and "shi" the attributive of the past "ki," "the koto I have played so long." Taking up the secret koto piece of the preceding poem, 494, it sings of parting through the sound of an instrument.
Fifth line, "ne koso kawarane": "koso" closes with "ne," the perfective of the negative "zu," "only the sound does not change," setting negative against negative with "arazu" in the first line.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanesada
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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