Omou hito omowanu hito no omou hito omowazaranan omoishirubeku - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ふ人思はぬ人の思ふ人
思はざらなん思ひ知るべく

Roma-ji: Omou hito omowanu hito no omou hito omowazaranan omoishirubeku
English Translation: You whom I love,
who love me not, the one
whom you love—
may that one love you not,
so you will learn how it feels
Meaning: You whom I love but who do not love me—may the one you love not love you back, so that you too may learn what it is to love in vain.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 571

Headnote: "He spoke his love to a woman who had someone else she loved, but she was cold to him, so he sent this."
The poet wishes that the one whom she—whom he loves but who does not love him—loves would not love her back, so that she too would learn the pain of loving in vain. Within wordplay that repeats "omou," to love, five times, he packs the resentment of an unrequited love.
According to the headnote, he spoke his love to a woman who loved someone else, but she was cold, so he sent this. 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 text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Omou hito," means "the one I love," pointing to the woman.
The second line, "omowanu hito no," means "who does not love me," likewise pointing to the woman.
The third line, "omou hito," means "the one she loves," repeating the words of the first line.
In the fourth line, "nan" is a particle expressing a wish directed at another: "may that one not love you."
The last line, "omoishirubeku," means "so that you may learn," and the poem repeats "omou" five times in all.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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