Like a great sacred wand,
Drawn by many reaching hands—
So you have become;
Though I think of you with love,
I cannot rely on you.

Meaning

Like a great sacred wand that is pulled by many hands, though I love you, I cannot place my trust in you.

Commentary

47. Like a Great Sacred Wand

There was a man who wished somehow to make a certain woman his lover. However, having heard that he was reputed to be an unfaithful and insincere man, the woman gradually began to treat him coldly.
This poem was composed by the woman and sent to the man.

A great sacred wand (ōnusa) is used in purification rites, and when the rite is finished, people draw it toward themselves, rubbing their bodies with it to remove defilement.
By likening the inconstant man to such a wand, she takes a cold stance, saying that she cannot rely on him.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

On a summer day that is slow to fall to dusk, as I gaze all day, without any single cause all things grow sad to me.
Even if unseen, I cannot think we are apart; for there is no time when you are ever forgot— your form stands before my eyes.
A great sacred wand— So you have named me indeed; Though I drift away, Even one borne down the stream At last will find a shallows.
Now at last I know How bitter a thing it is To wait for someone; I should not have stayed away From the place where one would wait.

Like a great sacred wand, Drawn by many reaching hands— So you have become; Though I think of you with love, I cannot rely on you.

Like a great sacred wand,
Drawn by many reaching hands—
So you have become;
Though I think of you with love,
I cannot rely on you.