Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
これや此の
Semimaru · 蝉丸
これや此の
行くも帰るも
別かれては
知るも知らぬも
逢坂の関
Historical kana
これやこの
ゆくもかへるも
わかれては
しるもしらぬも
あふさかのせき
Original English translation
Here it is: the barrier of Ōsaka, where those going and returning, strangers and acquaintances, part and meet.
History and context
Semimaru is associated with the Ōsaka barrier in later tradition, but much of his biography is legendary. The actual poem turns a well-known crossing near the capital into a meeting point of human paths.
Imagery and wordplay
The place-name Ōsaka echoes au, “to meet”. Paired opposites give the short poem a wide social world.
Gosenshū · 後撰集雑一1089
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.