Hito o mite omou omoi mo aru mono o sora ni kouru zo hakanakarikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人を見て思ふ思ひもあるものを
空に恋ふるぞはかなかりける

Roma-ji: Hito o mite omou omoi mo aru mono o sora ni kouru zo hakanakarikeru
English Translation: There is a love
that comes from seeing someone,
and yet, how fleeting
is this longing in thin air
for one I have never seen
Meaning: There is a love that comes of truly seeing someone, and yet how fleeting it is to long, with nothing to go on, for one I have never even seen.
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 601

Headnote: "Sent to a woman for the first time."
The poet says that while there is a love born of actually seeing someone, longing for one never seen is a fleeting thing. He confesses the uncertainty of a heart that has begun to love on rumor alone, and asks to meet her.
According to the headnote, this was the first poem he sent to the woman. It opens Love Poems II, and the next poems, 602 and 603, share the same headnote, so the book begins with three poems sent at the start of a courtship.
The poet, Fujiwara no Tadafusa, was a son of Fujiwara no Okitsugu and served as Master of the Right Capital Office, among other posts. He was known for his gift in music, and his poems also appear in the Kokin Wakashū.

The first line, "Hito o mite," means "having actually seen the person."
The second line, "omou omoi mo," means "the longing one feels," doubling "omou" and "omoi" to show the depth of feeling.
In the third line, "mono o" is an adversative particle: "though there is."
The fourth line, "sora ni kouru zo," means "to long with nothing to go on, without having seen," with "zo" an emphatic particle. It pairs with "mite" in the first line to describe a love without sight, the same conceit as "minu hito o omoiyaritsutsu" in 603 in this book.
The last line, "hakanakarikeru," means "how fleeting it is," closing with the attributive "keru" in answer to "zo" in the fourth line, a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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