はかなくて同じ心になりにしを
思ふがごとは思ふらんやぞ
思ふがごとは思ふらんやぞ
- Roma-ji
-
Hakanakute onaji kokoro ni narinishi o omou ga goto wa omouran ya zo
- English Translation
-
How frail it was,
the way we came to share
a single heart—
but do you love me
just as I love you
- Meaning
- Somehow, uncertainly, we have come to share the same heart—but do you love me as much as I love you?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 594
Headnote: "Sent to a man."
The poet says that somehow, uncertainly, they have come to share the same heart, and asks whether he loves her as much as she loves him. To a lover with whom she has exchanged hearts, she seeks to confirm that he loves her as much as she does.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a man. The next poem is Minamoto no Saneakira's reply, and the two form a pair of exchanged poems. Nakatsukasa and Minamoto no Saneakira are known to have exchanged many love poems.
The poet, Nakatsukasa, was a daughter of Prince Atsuyoshi and Ise. Known as a poet no less gifted than her mother, she is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "Hakanakute," means "uncertainly, before we knew it."
The second line, "onaji kokoro ni," means "into the same heart." "Onaji kokoro to" in the second line of the next poem takes this up. The second line of 592 in this book also reads "onaji kokoro ni."
The third line, "narinishi o," means "though we have become so," with "o" a concessive particle.
The fourth line, "omou ga goto wa," means "just as I love you."
The last line, "omouran ya zo," means "do you love me so?", with "ya" expressing a question and "zo" pressing the point.
- Author
- Nakatsukasa
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Hito shirezu omou kokoro wa Ōshima no naruto wa nashi ni nageku koro kana
- Next Poem
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Wabishisa o onaji kokoro to kiku kara ni waga mi o sutete kimi zo kanashiki