見てもまたまたも見まくのほしければ
馴るるを人はいとふべらなり
馴るるを人はいとふべらなり
- Roma-ji
-
Mite mo mata mata mo mimaku no hoshikereba naruru o hito wa itou beranari
- English Translation
-
Having seen you once
and once more, I long again
to see you once more,
and this closeness, it appears,
is the very thing you shun
- Meaning
- Each time I see you I want to see you again and again, and it seems that this very intimacy is what you have come to dislike.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 752
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poem laments that the strength of the speaker's longing, wanting to meet again each time, is the very thing that makes the beloved turn away. It captures the crossed hearts of love heading toward its end: the deeper the feeling grows, the further the other withdraws.
The first line, "even having seen you, again," shows a longing unsatisfied even just after meeting.
The second line repeats mata to stress the endless desire. Mimaku is the nominalized form of mimu, "to see," that is, to meet.
The third line, "since I want," gives the established reason, following on from mimaku no.
The fourth line speaks of growing familiar, and hito is the beloved. Closeness has become a burden to the other.
In the last line itou means to dislike, and beranari is conjectural. It ends with the same beranari as the preceding poem, and the two stand together as poems that guess at a lover's coldness.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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