Obotsukana ika ni Narumi no hate naramu yukue mo shiranu tabi no kanashisa - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

おぼつかないかになるみの果てならむ
行方も知らぬ旅の悲しさ

Roma-ji: Obotsukana ika ni Narumi no hate naramu yukue mo shiranu tabi no kanashisa
English Translation: How uncertain all!
At Narumi, what will become
of me in the end?
Such is the sorrow of a journey
whose destination I cannot know
Meaning: How uneasy I am! Here at Narumi, what end awaits me? Such is the sorrow of a journey whose destination I do not know.
Commentary: Book Eight Travel Poems 518

Headnote: "Composed at a place called Narumi in Owari Province when I was going to Shimotsuke Province"
Composed at a place called Narumi in Owari Province while the poet was going to Shimotsuke Province. Implicated in the Heiji Disturbance, he was being exiled to Shimotsuke, and the poem was written on the way. How uneasy I am; having come to Narumi, what will become of me in the end? Such is the sorrow of a journey whose end I cannot know, he says. Through the place name he expresses the anxiety and grief of an exile who does not know where he is headed.
The author, "Former Middle Counselor Moronaka," is Minamoto no Moronaka, son of Provisional Middle Counselor Minamoto no Morotoki, who rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. Having sided with Fujiwara no Nobuyori in the Heiji Disturbance of 1159, he was exiled to Shimotsuke Province.

First line, "obotsukana": the stem of an adjective meaning uneasy or uncertain, used as an exclamation. The poem pauses here.
Second line, "ika ni Narumi no": "Narumi" means both the place name in Owari and "naru mi," "what will become of me."
Third line, "hate naramu": "hate" is the end one comes to, one's fate, answering "ika ni" in the second line, "what end will it be?" The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "yukue mo shiranu": "not knowing where I am going."
Fifth line, "tabi no kanashisa": ending on a noun, it leaves the sorrow of an exile's journey lingering.
Author: Minamoto no Moronaka
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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