かくばかり恋ひむものぞと知らませば
その夜はゆたにあらましものを
その夜はゆたにあらましものを
- Roma-ji
-
Kakubakari koimu mono zo to shiramaseba sono yo wa yuta ni aramashi mono o
- English Translation
-
Had I only known
that love would ache like this,
on that night
I would have lingered
at my ease with you
- Meaning
- Had I known I would long for you this much, I would have spent that night with you at my leisure.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2867
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
Now that longing has grown so strong, the poet regrets having spent the night they met in such haste. Through a counterfactual construction, the poem voices lingering attachment to a night that cannot be recovered.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.
Line one, "kakubakari," means "this much."
Line two, "koimu mono zo to," means "that love would be like this," emphasized by "zo."
Line three, "shiramaseba": "maseba" corresponds to "mashi" in line five in a counterfactual construction, "had I known." Poems 3038 and 3143 in this book open on the same thought, "kaku koimu mono to shiriseba."
Line four, "sono yo wa yuta ni": "yuta ni" means at ease, showing regret for the hurried night they shared.
Line five, "aramashi mono o," means "I would have been so," filled with regret.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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