Aki no ta no ho ni koso hito o koizarame nado ka kokoro ni wasure shi mo semu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋の田のほにこそ人を恋ひざらめ
などか心に忘れしもせむ

Roma-ji: Aki no ta no ho ni koso hito o koizarame nado ka kokoro ni wasure shi mo semu
English Translation: Like the autumn rice
standing tall in open view
I may not love you
yet how could I ever
forget you in my heart
Meaning: Though I may not love you openly, as the ears of autumn rice stand out in the fields, how could I ever forget you in my heart?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 547

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem sings that though the poet will not love openly, standing out like ears of rice in the autumn fields, he will never forget the beloved in his heart. Pivoting ho, ear of grain, with ho, standing out in view, it expresses the strength of a hidden love. The next poem, 548, also begins with "the autumn rice fields," the two matched in the scene of autumn fields.

First line, "Like the autumn rice": aki no ta no, of the ripened autumn paddy, leads to ho in the second line. The next poem, 548, begins with the same first line.
Second line, "standing tall in open view": ho is a pivot word meaning both an "ear" of rice and "standing out" in view. Koso forms a kakari-musubi with me in the third line.
Third line, "I may not love you": koizarame means "I may not love," and the koso ... me construction turns adversative as it continues.
Fourth line, "yet how could I ever": nado ka is rhetorical, meaning "how could it be? it could not."
Fifth line, "forget you in my heart": wasure shi mo semu means "would I forget?", with shi and mo emphatic. It shows the resolve never to forget in the heart, even without showing it. Poem 549 of this book uses the same pivot on ho in "ho ni idete."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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