Omoedomo mi o shi wakeneba me ni mienu kokoro o kimi ni taguete zo yaru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思へども身をし分けねば目に見えぬ
心を君にたぐへてぞやる

Roma-ji: Omoedomo mi o shi wakeneba me ni mienu kokoro o kimi ni taguete zo yaru
English Translation: Though I think of you,
I cannot split myself in two,
so my heart,
unseen by any eye,
I send along with you.
Meaning: Though my thoughts are with you, I cannot divide myself in two; so I send my heart, which no eye can see, to travel at your side.
Commentary: Book Eight Parting Poems 373

Headnote: "Composed and sent to someone leaving for the eastern provinces"
Sent to someone going down to the eastern provinces, the poem says that since the poet cannot divide his body, he will at least send his unseen heart as the traveler's companion. Setting body against heart, it clearly compensates for the regret of not accompanying the traveler with the companionship of the heart.
The author, "Ikago no Atsuyuki," is a figure whose life is not well known.

The first line, "though I think of you," links, with the concessive domo, the depth of feeling to the reality that it cannot be acted upon. It shares the phrase "though I think" with the third line of poem 369.
The second line, "I cannot split myself," stresses "myself" with the emphatic particle shi and gives the reason with the negative ne plus ba: since I cannot divide it.
The third line, "unseen by any eye," contrasts with "myself" in the second line and leads to the invisible heart.
The fourth line, "my heart, with you," is the center of the contrast, offering the heart in place of the body. Poem 378 in this book, "since my heart, which travels even beyond the clouds, does not lag behind," takes up the same idea of the heart keeping pace with the traveler.
The last line, "I send along," uses taguu, "to make accompany," and the binding of the particle zo with the attributive yaru to express strongly the will to send the heart forth.
Author: Ikago no Atsuyuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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