Yoso ni omou wakare naraneba tare o ka wa mi yori hoka ni wa tou bekarikeru

よそに思ふ別れならねば誰をかは
身より外には訪ふべかりける

Roma-ji: Yoso ni omou wakare naraneba tare o ka wa mi yori hoka ni wa tou bekarikeru
English Translation: Since this is no parting
I can hold as someone else's,
whom then should I go
to call upon and console
if not this self of mine?
Meaning: Since this is no parting I can think of as someone else's, whom should I console but myself?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 839

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Reply"
This is Saigyō's second reply, answering 834. Since the parting from Sōkū is no stranger's concern to him, to console Jakuzen would be to console himself; whom then should he call on? he says, taking the grief of the loss as his own.

First line, “yoso ni omou”: to think of as another's affair.
Second line, “wakare naraneba”: since it is no such parting.
Third line, “tare o ka wa”: ka wa is a rhetorical binding particle answered by keru, taking up 'tare ka tou beki' in 834.
Fourth line, “mi yori hoka ni wa”: other than myself.
Fifth line, “tou bekarikeru”: whom should I have called on? closing rhetorically.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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