Hito naraba omou kokoro o iitemashi yoshi ya sa koso wa shizu no odamaki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人ならば思ふ心を言ひてまし
よしやさこそはしづのをだまき

Roma-ji: Hito naraba omou kokoro o iitemashi yoshi ya sa koso wa shizu no odamaki
English Translation: Were I someone,
I would speak the love I feel
and tell it to you;
but let it be—that is what
the humble spool of thread must be
Meaning: If I were of any standing, I would tell you what my heart feels; but let it be, I am as lowly as a spool of humble thread.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1426

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence on life and one's lot. Were he of ordinary standing, he would reveal his feelings; but he is lowly after all, he says with resignation. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Fujiwara no Korenari," served Emperor Kazan as a close attendant, holding posts such as Provisional Middle Controller of the Left, and took the tonsure when the emperor abdicated and became a monk.

The first line, "hito naraba," means "if I were a person of standing." It begins with the same supposition as "kazu naraba," the first line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "omou kokoro o," means "the heart that longs."
The third line, "iitemashi," means "I would tell it," "mashi" being counterfactual. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "yoshi ya sa koso wa," means "well, let it be, that is how it is," expressing resignation.
The last line, "shizu no odamaki," is the same last line as the preceding poem, "shizu" being a pivot word joining "shizu" cloth and "lowly." The two poems are bound by the same last line: where the preceding poem grieved over low rank, this one accepts it with a dismissive "yoshi ya."
Author: Fujiwara no Korenari
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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