Tsurashi to wa omou mono kara fushishiba no shibashi mo korinu kokoro narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つらしとは思ふものから伏柴の
しばしもこりぬ心なりけり

Roma-ji: Tsurashi to wa omou mono kara fushishiba no shibashi mo korinu kokoro narikeri
English Translation: Heartless, I confess,
you are, and yet like brushwood
cut and laid to rest,
not even for a little while
has my heart learned its lesson
Meaning: I know you are heartless, and yet, like brushwood cut and laid on the ground, my heart has not learned its lesson, not even for a little while.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1224

Headnote: "Sent when, having resented a woman and said he would no longer visit, he still found her hard to forget."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on resenting a cold-hearted lover and enduring the pain. Though he thinks her heartless, his heart, as with brushwood cut and laid down, has not learned its lesson even for a little while. According to the headnote, having resented a woman and said he would no longer visit, he still found her hard to forget and sent this poem.
The author, "Right Gate Guard Commander Iemichi," is Fujiwara no Iemichi, a court noble of the late Heian period who served as Commander of the Right Gate Guards.

The first line, "tsurashi to wa," means "that you are heartless." Taking up "tsurashi to zo omou" of 1216 of this book, it acknowledges the beloved's coldness.
The second line, "omou mono kara," means "though I think so." "Mono kara" is a concessive conjunctive particle.
The third line, "fushishiba no," means "of brushwood cut and laid down." It forms a preface leading by sound to "shibashi."
In the fourth line, "shibashi mo korinu," "kori" is a pivot word meaning both "cutting brushwood" and "learning one's lesson." "Laid brushwood" and "cutting" are associated words, giving the sense "not learning its lesson even for a little while."
The last line, "kokoro narikeri," means "such is my heart," "keri" expressing realization. It closes with the lament of one who, having said he would visit no more, realizes anew that his heart cannot forget.
Author: Fujiwara no Iemichi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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