Au koto no kata futagarite kimi kozu wa omou kokoro no tagau bakari zo - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことのかたふたがりて君来ずは
思ふ心のたがふばかりぞ

Roma-ji: Au koto no kata futagarite kimi kozu wa omou kokoro no tagau bakari zo
English Translation: Meeting is so hard,
your way is closed, you say,
and if you will not come,
then the heart that thinks of you
will only turn aside
Meaning: If, saying your direction is blocked, you make meeting so difficult and do not come, then my heart that longs for you will only turn away, as one turns aside on a journey.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 815

Headnote: "When a man did not come, saying his direction was blocked."
The poet says that if meeting is hard and he does not come because his direction is closed, her loving heart will only turn aside. To a man who uses a blocked direction as an excuse for not visiting, she cleverly employs the terms of yin-yang divination to say that her heart, too, will veer away as in a change of direction.
According to the headnote, the poem was composed when a man did not come, claiming his direction was inauspicious. The opening poem, 795, also uses the verb "futagaru" in "kumori futagari."
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," indicating that the poem is anonymous.

The first line, "Au koto no," means "of meeting."
The second line, "kata futagarite," means "your direction is blocked," with "kata" meaning both "direction" in divination and "difficult," as in meeting being hard.
The third line, "kimi kozu wa," means "if you do not come," with "zu wa" a negative supposition.
The fourth line, "omou kokoro no," means "the heart that loves you."
The last line, "tagau bakari zo," means "will only turn aside," with "tagau" meaning both the change of direction taken to avoid ill fortune and a heart going astray. "Zo" is emphatic.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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