Itazura ni yukite wa kinuru mono yue ni mimaku hoshisa ni izanawaretsutsu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いたづらに行きては来ぬるものゆゑに
見まくほしさにいざなはれつつ

Roma-ji: Itazura ni yukite wa kinuru mono yue ni mimaku hoshisa ni izanawaretsutsu
English Translation: In vain I go
and in vain I come back home,
and yet even so,
by my longing just to see you
I am lured out again and again
Meaning: Though I only go and come back again for nothing, I am drawn out time after time by the longing to see you.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 620

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Knowing that going will only end in returning without a meeting, the poet is still drawn out again and again by the sheer wish to see the beloved. It views, almost from outside, an irrepressible love that persists even when unrewarded, treating "the longing to see" as a force that leads the self astray.
The author is recorded as anonymous, and the name has not come down to us.

The first line, "itazura ni," means "uselessly, to no purpose."
The second line, "yukite wa kinuru," means "going and returning," continuing with nuru, the attributive of the perfective nu.
The third line, "mono yue ni," is the adversative mono yue ni, meaning "although."
The fourth line, "mimaku hoshisa ni," uses mimaku hoshi, "wishing to see," as the cause.
The final line, "izanawaretsutsu," combines the passive ru with the repetitive tsutsu, showing repeated outings drawn by longing; ending on tsutsu leaves a lingering echo.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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