If birds’ eggs were piled,
Ten upon ten, layered high—
Even were it so,
Would one love a person who
Does not think of him at all?

Meaning

Even if birds’ eggs could be piled ten upon ten, a hundred in all—though such a thing cannot be—would one love a person who does not think of him at all?

Commentary

50. If Birds’ Eggs Were Piled

There was a certain man. He resented a woman who reproached him, saying that he was unfaithful.
The poem was composed by the man and sent to the woman.

To pile up a hundred birds’ eggs is a metaphor for something absolutely impossible. This image is found in old Chinese expressions such as “the peril of piled eggs.”
By means of this comparison, he declares that even if what can never be done were somehow possible, he would still not love a woman who does not truly think of him.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

So tender and young, Fresh young grass, fair to lie on— Thus it seems to me; That someone will bind it close For a pillow—this I think on.
Like the first young grass, Why are these words so strange to me? So rare and sudden; Without suspicion till now I have thought of nothing at all.
Morning dew may yet Remain without vanishing— Such it might well be; But who in this fleeting world Could rely on anyone?
Though in the blowing wind Last year’s cherry blossoms Should not fall at all— Ah, how hard to rely on The heart of a person.

If birds’ eggs were piled, Ten upon ten, layered high— Even were it so, Would one love a person who Does not think of him at all?

If birds’ eggs were piled,
Ten upon ten, layered high—
Even were it so,
Would one love a person who
Does not think of him at all?