Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri tare yue ni midaremu to omou ware naranaku ni - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

陸奥のしのぶもぢずり誰ゆゑに
乱れむと思ふ我ならなくに

Roma-ji: Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri tare yue ni midaremu to omou ware naranaku ni
English Translation: Like the tangled print
of Shinobu cloth, dyed in
far Michinoku,
for whom else would I be torn—
I am not one to be so.
Meaning: Like the tangled pattern of Shinobu cloth from far Michinoku, my heart is in disarray—but for whose sake? I am not one to be thrown into turmoil by anyone but you.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 724

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Like cloth printed with the tangled pattern of Shinobu, the speaker's heart is in disarray—not for anyone else, but for you, he pleads. Using a rare dyed cloth of the eastern provinces as a preface, the poem vividly depicts a heart thrown into turmoil by love.
The first section of The Tales of Ise contains the poem "Kasugano no wakamurasaki no surigoromo shinobu no midare kagiri shirarezu," which draws on the spirit of this poem. It is included as poem fourteen of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, in a version whose fourth line reads "midaresomenishi."
The author, "the Kawara Minister of the Left," is Minamoto no Tōru. A son of Emperor Saga, he was made a commoner with the surname Minamoto and rose to Minister of the Left. He was called by this name because he built an elegant mansion, the Kawara-no-in, on the riverbank at Rokujō.

The first line, "Michinoku no," refers to the province of Mutsu in the northeast. The head poem of this book, 677, begins with the same "Michinoku no."
The second line, "shinobu mojizuri," is cloth printed with a tangled pattern, produced in Shinobu District of Mutsu; "shinobu" is a pivot word joining the place name Shinobu and "shinobu" (to hide one's love). Up to here the lines form a preface to "midare" (disarray) in the fourth line.
The third line, "tare yue ni," means "for whose sake," implying "for no one but you."
The fourth line, "midaremu to omou," means "to be thrown into disarray," overlaying the tangled pattern of the cloth with a heart disordered by love.
The final line, "ware naranaku ni," means "I am not one who would," "naku ni" being a negative with "ni" expressing an adversative exclamation.
Author: Minamoto no Tōru
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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