Waga kokoro yaku mo ware nari hashiki yashi kimi ni kouru mo waga kokoro kara

我が心焼くも我れなりはしきやし
君に恋ふるも我が心から

Roma-ji: Waga kokoro yaku mo ware nari hashiki yashi kimi ni kouru mo waga kokoro kara
English Translation: This heart of mine—
it is I myself who burn it;
and that, beloved,
I should long for you so—
that, too, comes from my own heart
Meaning: It is I myself who set my heart on fire; and that I long for you, my dear, also springs from my own heart.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems 3271

Headnote: "Envoy"
This is the envoy to the chōka (3270). Burning with jealousy and longing for the beloved—she tells herself that both come from her own heart. The chōka exaggerates: imagining the man lying in a wretched hut fit for burning, on a torn mat of rushes, arms entwined with an ugly woman, she says she sighed day and night until the bed creaked; some take it as a banquet song meant to raise laughter. The envoy turns to calm self-reflection, and the drop from the chōka’s vehemence gives it its flavor.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

The first line, “waga kokoro,” means “my heart,” and with the closing “waga kokoro kara” it frames the whole poem.
The second line, “yaku mo ware nari,” means “it is I who burn it,” laying the cause of jealousy on herself; the poem breaks here.
The third line, “hashiki yashi,” is a phrase meaning dear or beloved, modifying “kimi” in the fourth line.
The fourth line, “kimi ni kouru mo,” means “that I long for you, too,” pairing its “mo” with the second line’s “yaku mo” in near-parallel.
The closing line, “waga kokoro kara,” means “comes from my own heart,” answering the first line and sealing the poem.
Source: Manyoshu
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