Ame mo koso wa tanomaba morame tanomazu wa omowanu hito to mite o yaminan - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雨もこそは頼まばもらめ頼まずは
思はぬ人と見てをやみなん

Roma-ji: Ame mo koso wa tanomaba morame tanomazu wa omowanu hito to mite o yaminan
English Translation: Even the rain, if
you trust in it, will leak through;
if you trust me not,
I'll see you as one who cares not,
and let it end like the rain
Meaning: Even rain, if you trust in shelter from it, will leak through. And if you do not trust me, then I shall take you for one who does not love me, and let it end, as the rain ends.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 1039

Headnote: "Reply."
This is the second of two poems exchanged between Kentoku-kō and a lady-in-waiting, a reply to the preceding poem. Even rain leaks through if one trusts in shelter, she says, and if he does not trust her, she will take him for one who does not love her and let it end, turning back his "trusting heart." According to the headnote, it is a reply to Kentoku-kō's poem.
The author, "Anonymous," is the lady-in-waiting named in the preceding headnote, who served Reizei-in while he was Crown Prince; her name has not come down to us.
The first line of the main text reads "ame mo koso wa," which does not match "ame koso wa" in the kana reading line. The main text is followed here.

The first line, "ame mo koso wa," means "even the rain." Following the main text, the line has one extra syllable at six. "Koso" is resolved by "me" in the second line.
The second line, "tanomaba morame," means "if you trust in it, it will leak," taking up "tanomu" from his poem: trust is no more reliable than a roof that lets in the rain.
The third line, "tanomazu wa," means "if you do not trust," pairing with "tanomaba" in the second line.
The fourth line, "omowanu hito to," means "as one who does not love me."
In the last line, "yami" pivots between the rain stopping and ending the affair, associated with "ame" in the first line. It is close in form to "mite ya yaminan" in 990 and 1018, but here it turns to giving up on the other. Against the "trusting heart" of his poem, she coolly replies that trust is nothing to rely on.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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