Kaerubeki tabi no wakare to nagusamuru kokoro ni tagau namida narikeri - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

帰るべき旅の別れと慰むる
心に違ふ涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Kaerubeki tabi no wakare to nagusamuru kokoro ni tagau namida narikeri
English Translation: It is a parting
for a journey with return,
so I console myself,
yet against that very heart
these tears of mine go falling
Meaning: I console myself that this is the parting of a journey from which you will surely return, yet the tears that fall go against that very heart.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 336

Though the poet consoles himself that this is only the parting of a journey from which the traveler will return, tears fall in defiance of that thought. In the gap between the reasoning heart and the tears that overflow unbidden, the poem shows the depth of the sorrow of parting.
Some manuscripts give the headnote 'Composed when people held a farewell banquet as Lord Shigetada, Governor-General, went down to his post.' It would then be a poem from the farewell feast for Fujiwara no Shigetada as he left to serve as Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu.
The author, Yorimune, is Fujiwara no Yorimune. The second son of Fujiwara no Michinaga, born to Minamoto no Akiko, he rose to Minister of the Right and was called the Horikawa Minister of the Right. His personal collection is known as the Nyūdō Udaijin shū.

First line, 'kaerubeki', means bound to return, using the obligatory beshi. Like 'return' in poem 342 and 'come back' in poem 343 in this book, it sings of the traveler's return.
Second line, 'tabi no wakare to', means that it is the parting of a journey.
Third line, 'nagusamuru', means consoling oneself, an attributive form modifying 'heart' in the fourth line.
Fourth line, 'kokoro ni tagau', means going against the heart, showing how the consoling heart and the tears are at odds.
Final line, 'namida narikeri', means these are tears indeed, closing with the exclamatory keri. Tears also appear in 'falling tears' in poem 338 in this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Yorimune
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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