Ide nani ka kokoda hanahada togokoro no usuru made omou koi yue ni koso

いで何かここだはなはだ利心の
失するまで思ふ恋ゆゑにこそ

Roma-ji: Ide nani ka kokoda hanahada togokoro no usuru made omou koi yue ni koso
English Translation: Ah, but why is it
that so greatly, so intensely,
my sound mind itself
fades away as I keep thinking?
It is all because of love
Meaning: Why, then, do I brood so terribly, so intensely, until my steady mind is lost? It is all because of love.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2400

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Asking himself why he broods so intensely that he loses his senses, and answering that it is because of love, the poem takes the form of a question posed and answered by the speaker himself. Through question and answer, it vividly conveys a love so fierce that reason is lost.
Piling up words of degree in "kokoda hanahada," it strongly brings out the turmoil of the heart. Following the preceding poem's plea that the heart has not changed, this poem admits a love deep enough to lose one's mind, so poems showing the strength of love stand side by side.
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, "ide nani ka": "well now, why?" "Ide" is a word used when one starts to speak, and with "nani ka" the poem opens by questioning oneself.
Second line, "kokoda hanahada": "so much, so terribly." Two words of similar meaning, "kokoda" and "hanahada," are piled together to stress the intensity.
Third line, "togokoro no": "of a steady mind," referring to a heart that judges things calmly.
Fourth line, "usuru made omou": "thinking until it vanishes," expressing the pain of a love that broods until sanity is lost.
Fifth line, "koi yue ni koso": "it is because of love." Ending strongly with the particle "koso" and omitting the concluding word, it answers the question of the first line.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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