Fushi nakute kimi ga taenishi shiraito wa yoritsukigataki mono ni zo arikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ふしなくて君が絶えにし白糸は
よりつきがたき物にぞありける

Roma-ji: Fushi nakute kimi ga taenishi shiraito wa yoritsukigataki mono ni zo arikeru
English Translation: With no knot, no cause,
you broke off between us,
like a white thread—
and how hard it is, I find,
to twist it close once more
Meaning: Like a smooth white thread snapping without a knot, you broke off from me for no reason at all—and I find it hard to twist it together, hard to draw near you again.
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 691

Headnote: "A man had written to a woman, but she broke off without even replying, so he wrote again."
The poet says that the bond she broke off without reason, like a white thread, is hard to twist together again, hard to draw near. He grieves over a relationship that ended without a reply, likening it to a snapped white thread.
According to the headnote, a man wrote to a woman, but she broke off without even answering, so he wrote to her again.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

In the first line, "fushi" is a pivot word joining a "knot" in thread and "fushi," a reason: "without any cause."
The second line, "kimi ga taenishi," means "that you broke off," with "tayu" an associated word with thread.
The third line, "shiraito wa," means "the white thread," a figure for their bond.
In the fourth line, "yori" is a pivot word joining "twisting" thread together and "drawing near" someone.
The last line, "mono ni zo arikeru," means "it was such a thing," with "zo" an emphatic particle closing with the attributive "keru," a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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