Tsure mo naki hito no kokoro wa utsusemi no munashiki koi ni mi o ya kaeten - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つれもなき人の心は空蝉の
むなしき恋に身をやかへてん

Roma-ji: Tsure mo naki hito no kokoro wa utsusemi no munashiki koi ni mi o ya kaeten
English Translation: The heart of the one
who cares nothing for me stays cold:
like a cicada's shell,
for a love as empty as that
must I trade away my life?
Meaning: The heart of the one who cares nothing for me will not change; must I then trade my life for a love as empty as a cicada's cast-off shell?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1146

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence in which one-sided love comes to dwell on one's own self and life. The unfeeling beloved's heart does not change, and the speaker wonders whether she must trade her life for a love as empty as a cicada's shell. The headnote continues from the preceding poem and gives no topic.
The author is Hachijō-in no Takakura, a lady-in-waiting to Hachijō-in, Princess Shōshi, a daughter of Emperor Toba.

The first line, "tsure mo naki," means "unfeeling," not answering one's love.
The second line, "hito no kokoro wa," means "the heart of that one," showing an unchanging coldness. Breaking off after the second line, the poem turns to the lament that follows.
The third line, "utsusemi no," is a pillow word modifying "munashiki." The emptiness of a cicada's cast-off shell leads to "munashiki koi" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "munashiki koi ni," means "for an empty love." After "munashiki sora" in poem 1134 of this book, the word "munashiki" again sings the frailty of a love that never meets.
The last line, "mi o ya kaeten," means "must I trade my life," the particle "ya" answered by the attributive of "ten." Where "au ni kaetsu" in poem 1144 of this book wished to trade life for a meeting, this poem grieves that one may throw one's life away for an empty love, and the two form a pair through the same word "kau."
Author: Hachijoin no Takakura
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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