Azusayumi hikeba motosue waga kata ni yoru koso masare koi no kokoro wa - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

梓弓引けば本末わが方に
よるこそまされ恋の心は

Roma-ji: Azusayumi hikeba motosue waga kata ni yoru koso masare koi no kokoro wa
English Translation: As when a catalpa bow
is drawn, its ends both bend in
toward me, so it is
by night that it grows stronger,
this heart of mine in love.
Meaning: Just as both ends of a catalpa bow bend toward me when I draw it, so at night the longing of my heart only grows stronger.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 610

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that, just as both ends of a catalpa bow bend toward the archer when it is drawn, his love grows even stronger at night. The act of drawing the bow in the upper verse serves as a preface, and yoru carries both "to draw near" and "night," expressing a love that mounts night after night. The final line is inverted to place "koi no kokoro wa," "this heart of love," at the end, and the device of revealing the subject last is skillful.
Harumichi no Tsuraki was a poet of the early Heian period, the son of Harumichi no Niina. Rising from a student of letters, he served in posts such as Senior Clerk of the Dazaifu and was appointed Governor of Iki, but died before taking up the post. One of his poems was also chosen for the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "azusayumi": azusayumi is a bow made of catalpa wood, also used as a pillow word for "draw," "string," "shoot," and the like. Here the bow itself is sung of.
Second line, "hikeba motosue": motosue are the lower and upper ends of a bow. When drawn, both ends bend and come toward the archer.
Third line, "waga kata ni": "toward me." The first three lines form a preface, leading from the bow's ends drawing near to yoru in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "yoru koso masare": yoru is a pun on the ends of the bow "drawing near" and "night." The binding particle koso is resolved by the perfective masare, and the poem breaks here. Poem 559 of this book also leads from yoru, "to approach," to yoru, "night," so the same technique echoes within the book.
Fifth line, "koi no kokoro wa": through inversion, the subject comes last, closing by revealing that what grows each night is the heart of love.
Author: Harumichi no Toshi
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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