Ashitazu no kumoji mayoishi toshi kurete kasumi o sae ya hedatehatsubeki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あしたづの雲路迷ひし年暮れて
霞をさへや隔て果つべき

Roma-ji: Ashitazu no kumoji mayoishi toshi kurete kasumi o sae ya hedatehatsubeki
English Translation: The crane of the reeds
lost its way on the cloud path,
and that year has ended;
will even the spring haze
shut it off for good?
Meaning: The year in which the crane lost its way on the cloud path has drawn to a close; will even the spring haze now shut it off for good?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1158

Headnote: "Attached when, in the reign of the present emperor, at the time of the Gosechi dances, the chamberlain Teika was struck from the roll of the courtiers' hall because the emperor heard that he had committed an offense, and in the year after that year had ended, around the first of the third month, I asked the Left Minor Controller Sadanaga to seek the retired emperor's wishes"
At the time of the Gosechi dances in the reign of the present emperor, Go-Toba, the emperor heard that the chamberlain Fujiwara no Teika had committed an offense, and Teika was struck from the roll of the courtiers' hall. In the third month of the following year, Shunzei asked the Left Minor Controller Fujiwara no Sadanaga to seek Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa's wishes, and attached this poem. The year the crane lost its way on the cloud path has ended; will even the spring haze shut it off for good, he says. The poem concerns the incident at the Gosechi of Bunji 1 (1185), when Teika quarreled in the courtiers' hall and was struck from its roll, and through the image of the crane and the haze, the father pleads with the aching heart of a parent who fears that his son, unpardoned as the year ended, will remain shut out from the court even with the coming of spring.
The author, "Master of the Empress Dowager's Household Shunzei," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. A son of Fujiwara no Toshitada, he served as master of the empress dowager's household, took the tonsure in Angen 2 (1176) and was called Shakua. He compiled the Senzai Wakashū and was the father of Fujiwara no Teika.
The next poem, 1159, is Sadanaga's reply to this one. Following the preceding poem, 1157, it is another poem concerning readmission to the courtiers' hall.

First line, "ashitazu no": "ashitazu" is a crane among the reeds, a bird sung of as a parent longing for its young. Here it stands for Teika, driven from the court.
Second line, "kumoji mayoishi": "kumoji," the path through the clouds, means the way to the court, since the court was called "above the clouds." It shares the likening of the court to clouds with "kumo no ue no" in the first line of 1056 near the opening of the book.
Third line, "toshi kurete": "that year having ended," meaning the year turned while he remained struck from the roll.
Fourth line, "kasumi o sae ya": "kasumi" is the haze of the new spring, "sae" an additive particle, and "ya" an interrogative binding particle closing with "beki" in the fifth line. It shares the haze with "kasumi o wakete" in the second line of the next poem, 1159.
Fifth line, "hedatehatsubeki": "will it shut it off for good?" with "beki" the attributive of the conjectural "beshi."
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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