Hi o hetsutsu yuku ni harukeki michi naredo sue o miyako to omowamashikaba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

日を経つつ行くにはるけき道なれど
末を都と思はましかば

Roma-ji: Hi o hetsutsu yuku ni harukeki michi naredo sue o miyako to omowamashikaba
English Translation: Day after day
the road I travel stretches
ever farther on,
if only I could think
the capital lay at its end
Meaning: Day after day the road I travel grows ever longer; if only I could think that the capital lay at its end, how happy I would be.
Commentary: Book Eight Travel Poems 519

Headnote: "Composed when I was going to the eastern provinces, as the way ahead seemed so far"
Composed while going down to the eastern provinces, when the road ahead seemed endlessly far. Day after day the road grows longer as I go, but if only I could think its end were the capital, the poet says. Imagining that the road leading him away from the capital were instead a road toward it, he shows how strongly he longs for home.
The author, "Master of the Western Capital Nagonori," is Fujiwara no Nagonori, son of Fujiwara no Michinori, known as Shinzei, who served as Master of the Western Capital.

First line, "hi o hetsutsu": the continuative "tsutsu," "as the days go by."
Second line, "yuku ni harukeki": "harukeki" is the attributive of "harukeshi," "ever farther as I go."
Third line, "michi naredo": the concessive "do," "though it is a road."
Fourth line, "sue o miyako to": "sue" is where the road ends.
Fifth line, "omowamashikaba": "mashika" is the irrealis of the counterfactual "mashi," and with "ba," "if I could think it were the capital." It breaks off before the implied "how happy I would be," leaving a lingering effect.
Author: Fujiwara no Nagonori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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