Yo no naka wa tsune kaku nomi to omoedomo hatata wasurezu nao koinikeri

世の中は常かくのみと思へども
はたた忘れずなほ恋ひにけり

Roma-ji: Yo no naka wa tsune kaku nomi to omoedomo hatata wasurezu nao koinikeri
English Translation: The world, I believe,
is ever only like this,
and yet even so,
I cannot forget, and still
I find that I long for you
Meaning: I think that the world is always just like this, and yet I cannot forget; I find that I still long for you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2383

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Though the speaker knows that the world is always like this, the beloved cannot be forgotten, and the longing goes on: so the poem says. It frankly expresses the gap between reason, which tries to give up, and a heart that cannot let go of love.
The headnote continues from the preceding poem, "Expressing One's Feelings Directly." The words "kaku nomi" also appear in "kaku nomi shi," the opening of poem 2374, and in both they point to a love that will not go as one wishes.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "yo no naka wa": "the world." It refers to the world at large, and also includes the relations between men and women that do not go as one wishes.
Second line, "tsune kaku nomi to": "is always only like this." "Kaku nomi" means "just this way," pointing to a present that does not go as hoped.
Third line, "omoedomo": "though I think so." The concessive "domo" turns from the attempt to accept things through reason to the love that cannot be cut off in the closing lines.
Fourth line, "hatata wasurezu": the reading and meaning of "hatata" are disputed; it is interpreted as "still" or "all the more." "Wasurezu" means "cannot forget."
Fifth line, "nao koinikeri": "I still find myself longing." "Nikeri" is the continuative of the perfective "nu" with the exclamatory "keri," expressing a feeling newly realized.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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