Tsurakaraba onaji kokoro ni tsurakaran tsurenaki hito o koin to mo sezu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つらからば同じ心につらからん
つれなき人を恋ひんともせず

Roma-ji: Tsurakaraba onaji kokoro ni tsurakaran tsurenaki hito o koin to mo sezu
English Translation: If you are heartless,
then with that very same heart
I too will be heartless;
one who is so cold to me
I will not even try to love
Meaning: If you are cruel, I will be cruel with the very same heart; I have no intention of loving someone so cold.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems I 592

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet answers that if he is cruel, she will be cruel with the very same heart, and has no intention of loving someone so cold. Told that she too would fall in love one day, she pushes him away, saying she will never love a cold-hearted man.
It is a reply to the preceding poem. It answers "kimi mo koisuru" with the denial "koin to mo sezu."
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, "Tsurakaraba," means "if you are cruel."
The second line, "onaji kokoro ni," means "with the same heart." The second line of 594 in this book also reads "onaji kokoro ni."
The third line, "tsurakaran," means "I will be cruel," repeating "tsurakara" of the first line. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "tsurenaki hito o," means "someone cold."
The last line, "koin to mo sezu," means "I do not even think to love," taking up "kimi mo koisuru" in the fourth line of the preceding poem and denying it.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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