Sumisuteshi sono furusato o aratamete mukashi ni kaeru kokochi mo ya suru

住み捨てしその古里を改めて
昔に帰る心地もやする

Roma-ji: Sumisuteshi sono furusato o aratamete mukashi ni kaeru kokochi mo ya suru
English Translation: The old home you once
left behind, now once again
living there, I wonder,
do you feel as though you have
returned to the days of old?
Meaning: Now that you have returned to live again in the old home you once abandoned, do you feel as though you have gone back to the past?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 801

Headnote: "Sent to someone who, having lost a relative, had wandered without a settled home and then returned to live in his old village"
Someone who had lost a relative and wandered without a settled home had returned to live in his old village, and the poet sent this to him. Now that you live again in the old home you once abandoned, do you feel as though you have gone back to the past? he asks, imagining the other's heart.

First line, “sumisuteshi”: once given up as a place to live.
Second line, “sono furusato o”: furusato is the place where one used to live.
Third line, “aratamete”: once again.
Fourth line, “mukashi ni kaeru”: returning to the past, joined to returning to the old home.
Fifth line, “kokochi mo ya suru”: ya is answered by suru; do you feel so?
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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