Nemokoro ni katamoi sure ka kono koro no aga kokorodo no ikeru tomo naki

ねもころに片思ひすれかこのころの
我が心どの生けるともなき

Roma-ji: Nemokoro ni katamoi sure ka kono koro no aga kokorodo no ikeru tomo naki
English Translation: With all my heart
is it that I love alone?
In these recent days,
the spirit within my breast
scarce seems to be alive
Meaning: Is it because I love so earnestly, and alone? These days my spirit hardly feels alive.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2525

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Is it because I love so earnestly and in vain that these days my spirit hardly feels alive? The poem sings of the pain of unrequited love. The speaker examines the weakening of the heart by asking whether one-sided love is to blame, and the lament of one worn down by love comes through plainly.
This is a poem expressing feelings directly. From the preceding poems about rumor and the color that shows outwardly, attention here turns inward to the speaker's solitary, one-sided love.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "nemokoro ni": "earnestly, wholeheartedly," showing the depth of the one-sided love.
Second line, "katamoi sure ka": "is it because I love alone?" "Sure" is the realis of the verb "su," and with "ka" it forms a questioning condition that wonders at the cause. The particle "ka" is answered by "naki" in the last line, a kakari-musubi construction.
Third line, "kono koro no": "of these days," turning attention to the present state of the heart.
Fourth line, "aga kokorodo no": "my spirit." "Kokorodo" is a firm heart, one's vigor, and "no" marks the subject.
Fifth line, "ikeru tomo naki": "hardly seems alive." Answering the "ka" of the second line with "naki," the attributive of the adjective "nashi," it laments a heart drained of strength.
Source: Manyoshu
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