Omou to wa iu mono kara ni tomosureba wasururu kusa no hana ni ya wa aranu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ふとは言ふものからにともすれば
忘るる草の花にやはあらぬ

Roma-ji: Omou to wa iu mono kara ni tomosureba wasururu kusa no hana ni ya wa aranu
English Translation: You say you love me,
and yet, so it seems, you are
all too apt to be
the flower of that grass
whose name is forgetting
Meaning: You say you love me, but are you not, all too easily, a flower of the grass of forgetting?
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 551

Headnote: "A woman sent him a letter tied to a sprig of day lily, the grass of forgetting."
The poet asks whether, though she says she loves him, she is not all too apt to be a flower of the grass of forgetting. Seizing on the name of the day lily to which she tied her letter, he accuses her of meaning to forget him while saying she loves him.
According to the headnote, a woman sent him a letter tied to a sprig of the grass of forgetting. The next poem is her reply, and the two form a pair of exchanged poems.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Omou to wa," means "that you love me."
The second line, "iu mono kara ni," means "though you say so," expressing concession.
The third line, "tomosureba," means "all too readily."
The fourth line, "wasururu kusa no," refers to the grass of forgetting, the day lily said to make one forget sorrow when worn. "Mazu wasuraruru" in the fourth line of the next poem takes this up.
In the last line, "ya wa" is rhetorical: "are you not its flower? Surely you are."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Au koto no kataito zo to wa shirinagara tama no o bakari nani ni yoriken
Next Poem: Uete miru ware wa wasurede adabito ni mazu wasuraruru hana ni zo arikeru