Oroka naru kokoro no hiku ni makasetemo sate sa wa ika ni tsui no omoi wa - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

愚かなる心の引くにまかせても
さてさはいかに終の思ひは

Roma-ji: Oroka naru kokoro no hiku ni makasetemo sate sa wa ika ni tsui no omoi wa
English Translation: Even if I leave
all to where my foolish heart
lets itself be drawn,
what then, what then, will become
of my thoughts at the last?
Meaning: Even if I go on leaving everything to where my foolish heart is drawn, what then will become of my thoughts at the very end?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1749

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the third of the poems on turning from the world and the second of four by Saigyō. Even if he lives leaving all to where his foolish heart is drawn, what then will his thoughts be at the hour of death? Following the preceding poem's gaze at a heart that wanders from the body, he asks where that heart is bound, pressing the question right up to the moment of death.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," is Saigyō. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; he served Retired Emperor Toba as a guard of the Northern Quarters but took vows while young. He traveled the provinces composing poems, and his personal collection is the Sankashū.

The first line, "oroka naru," means "foolish," unable to escape delusion.
The second line, "kokoro no hiku ni," means "where the heart is drawn," the heart pulled toward the things of the world.
The third line, "makasetemo," means "even if I leave it so." "Temo" marks a concessive supposition and leads to the question of the lower verse.
The fourth line, "sate sa wa ika ni," means "well then, what of it?" In a tone of rapid questioning, he presses himself.
The last line, "tsui no omoi wa," is one's thoughts at the hour of death. Placed last through inversion, it closes the poem with the urgent question of whether he can keep his mind on the Buddha, unshaken, at the end.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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