Yoso ni furu ame to koso kike obotsukana nani o ka hito no koiji to iuran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

よそに降る雨とこそ聞けおぼつかな
何をか人のこひぢと言ふらん

Roma-ji: Yoso ni furu ame to koso kike obotsukana nani o ka hito no koiji to iuran
English Translation: Rain that falls elsewhere,
so I have heard it said—
how uncertain!
What can it be that you
are calling the mud of love
Meaning: I hear the rain fell somewhere else—how vague it all is! What, then, do you mean by the muddy road of love?
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 568

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet answers that she hears the rain fell somewhere else, and asks, how vague it all is, what he means by the muddy road of love. Taking up "koiji" in the preceding poem, she evades him by saying no rain fell where she is, and questions the truth of his words.
It is a reply to the preceding poem. It answers "koiji ni nururu" with "koiji to iuran."
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Yoso ni furu," means "falling somewhere else."
The second line, "ame to koso kike," means "it is rain, I hear," the particle "koso" and the perfective "kike" forming a kakarimusubi pattern.
The third line, "obotsukana," means "how vague," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "nani o ka hito no," means "what is it that you," with "ka" an interrogative particle.
In the last line, "koiji" is a pivot word meaning both "the road of love" and "mud," taking up the fourth line of the preceding poem. It closes with the attributive "ran" in answer to "ka" in the fourth line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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