Urameshiki kimi ga kakine no u no hana wa ushi to mitsutsu mo nao tanomu kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恨めしき君が垣根の卯の花は
うしと見つつもなほ頼むかな

Roma-ji: Urameshiki kimi ga kakine no u no hana wa ushi to mitsutsu mo nao tanomu kana
English Translation: At your hedge I blame,
yours, who are so hard of heart,
the deutzia blooms;
though I see in them only sorrow,
still I go on trusting you
Meaning: The deutzia at the hedge of you, whom I resent—though I see sorrow in them, as their name suggests, I still go on trusting you.
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 151

Headnote: "Because the one with whom he had been exchanging words was cold, he broke off deutzia from the hedge of her house and sent in this poem."
Though he finds the deutzia at the hedge of the one he resents a source of sorrow, he still places his trust in her. Echoing "ushi," sorrowful, in the "u" of u no hana, the poem shows a heart unable to give up on a cold lover.
According to the headnote, the person with whom he had been exchanging words was unresponsive, so he broke off deutzia from the hedge of her house and sent a poem in. The next poem is the reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the author as "yomibito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.

The first line, "Urameshiki," states plainly his resentment of the cold lover.
The second line, "kimi ga kakine no," names the hedge of her house, the one from which he broke the deutzia in the headnote.
The third line, "u no hana wa," names the deutzia blooming on the hedge, and its sound "u" echoes in "ushi" in the fourth line. The next poem, 152, answers by placing "u no hana no" in its third line.
In the fourth line, "ushi" is a pivot word joining "u" of the deutzia and "ushi," sorrowful. "Tsutsu" expresses repetition: "even while seeing them as sorrow."
The last line, "nao tanomu kana," means "still I go on trusting," with "kana" as a sigh. It closes on a heart that cannot let go.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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