Kyō wa sa wa tachiwakaru tomo tayori araba ari ya nashi ya no nasake wasuru na - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今日はさは立ち別るとも便りあらば
ありやなしやの情け忘るな

Roma-ji: Kyō wa sa wa tachiwakaru tomo tayori araba ari ya nashi ya no nasake wasuru na
English Translation: Today then, it is so,
we part and go our ways, yet
should a chance arise,
do not forget the kindness
to ask if I live or not
Meaning: Today, then, we part and go our separate ways; but should a chance arise, do not forget the kindness of asking whether I am still alive.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 344

Though they part today, the poet asks the traveler not to forget, should a chance arise, the kindness of asking whether the poet is still alive. Accepting the parting, the poem frankly voices the wish to hear from the traveler afterward.
'Ari ya nashi ya', whether alive or not, draws on Ariwara no Narihira's poem in the Tales of Ise and the Kokinshū, which bids the capital birds, if true to their name, to say whether the one he loves still lives, and so carries concern for the safety of someone far away.
Some manuscripts give the headnote 'From a hundred-poem sequence, on the sentiment of parting.' It would then be a poem on parting composed within a hundred-poem sequence.
The author, Kunizane, is Minamoto no Kunizane. A son of the Minister of the Right Minamoto no Akifusa, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor, was active in the poetry circle of Emperor Horikawa, and was one of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequences.

First line, 'kyō wa sa wa', means today, then, showing acceptance of the parting.
Second line, 'tachiwakaru tomo', means even though we part and set out, using the concessive supposition tomo. Like 'tachiwakarenuru' in the next poem, 345, it sings of parting.
Third line, 'tayori araba', means if there is a chance, the irrealis with ba forming a supposition.
Fourth line, 'ari ya nashi ya no', means of whether I live or not, drawing on 'ari ya nashi ya to' in Narihira's poem of the capital birds.
Final line, 'nasake wasuru na', means do not forget the kindness, using the prohibitive particle na. Like the final line 'ware o wasuru na' of poem 348 in this book, it closes with the prohibitive na in a plea to the other.
Author: Minamoto no Kunizane
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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