Utsurowade shibashi Shinoda no mori o miyo kaeri mo zo suru kuzu no urakaze - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うつろはでしばし信太の森を見よ
かへりもぞする葛の裏風

Roma-ji: Utsurowade shibashi Shinoda no mori o miyo kaeri mo zo suru kuzu no urakaze
English Translation: Do not change your heart;
watch awhile the woods of Shinoda,
for it may turn back—
the wind that flips the kudzu leaves
and shows their pale undersides.
Meaning: Do not let your heart change; watch the woods of Shinoda for a while, for as the wind turns the kudzu leaves back, his heart too may return.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1820

Headnote: "Sent on hearing that, soon after Izumi Shikibu had been forgotten by Michisada, Prince Atsumichi had begun to visit her."
This is the third of the poems expressing thoughts through plants and trees. Do not change your heart; watch the woods of Shinoda for a while, for as the wind flips the kudzu leaves back, his heart may return. According to the headnote, it was sent on hearing that soon after Izumi Shikibu was forgotten by her husband Tachibana no Michisada, Prince Atsumichi had begun to visit her; it counsels her not to hurry into a new love but to wait for her husband's heart to return.
The author, "Akazome Emon," was the daughter of Akazome no Tokimochi. She was the wife of Ōe no Masahira and served Jōtōmon-in Shōshi. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem.
The woods of Shinoda are in Izumi Province, in present-day Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, a poetic place sung of with kudzu leaves. It is chosen in allusion to Michisada, who had been Governor of Izumi.

The first line, "utsurowade," means "without changing your heart," warning against turning to another.
The second line, "shibashi Shinoda no," means "for a while, of Shinoda." The sounds of "shibashi" and "Shinoda" echo, leading to the poetic place in Izumi.
The third line, "mori o miyo," means "watch the woods." In the imperative it counsels her to wait, and the poem pauses here.
In the fourth line, "kaeri mo zo suru," "kaeri" is a pivot word meaning both the kudzu leaves being flipped back by the wind and a departed heart returning. "Mo zo" means "it may well."
The last line, "kuzu no urakaze," is the wind that turns kudzu leaves over. Ending on a noun, it leads into the "kudzu leaves" of the reply in the next poem.
Author: Akazome Emon
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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