Ayashiku mo itou ni hayuru kokoro kana ika ni shite ka wa omoiyamu beki - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あやしくも厭ふにはゆる心かな
いかにしてかは思ひ止むべき

Roma-ji: Ayashiku mo itou ni hayuru kokoro kana ika ni shite ka wa omoiyamu beki
English Translation: How strange it is,
this heart that burns the brighter
the more I'm shunned—
by what means, I wonder,
could I put an end to love
Meaning: How strange it is—this heart of mine only flares up more the more I am rebuffed. How, I wonder, could I ever make this love stop?
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 608

Headnote: "Sent to a woman who would not even reply to his letters."
The poet marvels that his heart burns all the brighter the more he is shunned, and asks how he could ever stop loving. He presses his case by puzzling over the strangeness of a love that grows the colder she is.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman who would not answer his letters.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ayashiku mo," means "strangely."
The second line, "itou ni hayuru," means "growing all the stronger as I am shunned."
In the third line, "kana" is an exclamatory particle, and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "ika ni shite ka wa," means "by what means," with "ka" an interrogative particle. It uses the same words as "ika ni shite" in the third line of 602 in this book.
The last line, "omoiyamu beki," means "could I stop loving?" closing with the attributive "beki" in answer to "ka" in the fourth line, a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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