心こそうたて憎けれ染めざらば
移ろふことも惜しからましや
移ろふことも惜しからましや
- Roma-ji
-
Kokoro koso utate nikukere somezaraba utsurou koto mo oshikaramashi ya
- English Translation
-
It is my own heart
that I find so hateful now;
had it not been dyed,
would I feel it such a loss
when your color fades away?
- Meaning
- It is my own heart that is so hateful. If it had never been dyed with love for you, would I grieve to see your heart fade? Surely I would not.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 796
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The speaker hates her own heart, knowing that she grieves her lover's change only because her heart has been deeply dyed with love for him. Taking up "flower-dye" from the preceding poem, it turns the focus not on the fickle lover but on the heart that grieves the change.
The first line names her own heart, with koso resolved by the perfective nikukere in the second line.
In the second line utate means "terribly," showing strong distaste for her own heart. The poem breaks here.
In the third line zaraba is a negative hypothetical: if it had not been dyed. It takes up the flower-dye of the preceding poem.
The fourth line speaks of the lover's heart fading; "dye" and "fade" are associated words of color.
In the last line mashi is counterfactual and ya rhetorical: would it be a loss? Surely not.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Yo no naka no hito no kokoro wa hanazome no utsuroiyasuki iro ni zo arikeru
- Next Poem
-
Iro miede utsurou mono wa yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hana ni zo arikeru