Waga koi wa munashiki sora ni michinurashi omoiyaredomo yuku kata mo nashi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わが恋はむなしき空に満ちぬらし
思ひやれども行く方もなし

Roma-ji: Waga koi wa munashiki sora ni michinurashi omoiyaredomo yuku kata mo nashi
English Translation: This love of mine
has filled the empty sky
it seems, to the brim
though I send my thoughts away
there is nowhere left to go
Meaning: My love, it seems, has filled the whole empty sky; though I try to send my thoughts away, there is nowhere left for them to go.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 488

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet sings that his love has overflowed to fill the vast sky, so that wherever he sends his feelings, they find no place to go. Its bold and grand conception, treating longing as something that spreads through all of space, is its hallmark. Through exaggeration it vividly shows a love too great for the heart to contain.

First line, "This love of mine": waga koi wa sets out the theme of the poem.
Second line, "has filled the empty sky": munashiki sora is the empty heavens, the void. Following "heaven's sky" in poem 484 of this book, it again links love with the sky.
Third line, "it seems, to the brim": nu is perfective and rashi is an auxiliary of grounded inference, meaning "it seems to have filled." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "though I send my thoughts away": omoiyaru means sending one's thoughts far off to ease the heart.
Fifth line, "there is nowhere left to go": yuku kata mo nashi means there is no destination, showing that love has filled the sky and leaves no room for longing to be released.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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