Aranu yo no wakare wa kyō zo ukarikeru asaji ga hara o miru ni tsukete mo

あらぬ世の別れは今日ぞ憂かりける
浅茅が原を見るにつけても

Roma-ji: Aranu yo no wakare wa kyō zo ukarikeru asaji ga hara o miru ni tsukete mo
English Translation: This parting into
another world, it is today
that it is most bitter,
as I look out upon
this field of sparse reed grass.
Meaning: The parting into another world feels most bitter today, as I look out over the field of sparse reed grass.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 821

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "After the death of the Second Rank Lady of the Retired Emperor, when people composed ten poems"
This is the fifth of the ten. The parting into a world other than this feels most bitter today, as I look upon the field of sparse reed grass, the poet says. The reed field is the desolate burial ground, and its loneliness brings the pain of parting home anew.

First line, “aranu yo no”: of a world other than this, the next world.
Second line, “wakare wa kyō zo”: zo is answered by keru in the third line.
Third line, “ukarikeru”: is bitter; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “asaji ga hara o”: a waste of sparse reed grass, the look of the burial ground.
Fifth line, “miru ni tsukete mo”: as I look upon it, inverted to follow the third line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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