Isa ya mada hito no kokoro mo shiratsuyu no oku ni mo to ni mo sode nomi zo hitsu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いさやまだ人の心もしら露の
おくにもとにも袖のみぞひつ

Roma-ji: Isa ya mada hito no kokoro mo shiratsuyu no oku ni mo to ni mo sode nomi zo hitsu
English Translation: Who can say? Not yet
do I know your heart, and like
the white dew settling,
inside the blinds and out,
only my sleeves are wet
Meaning: Who can say? I still do not know your heart. Like white dew settling, whether I am inside the blinds or out, it is only my sleeves that are wet with tears.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 964

Headnote: "Composed when, having always been sent away at the gate of a woman's house, he was at last called up to the blinds and she said to him, 'Are you not satisfied even with this?'"
The poet says that he still does not know her heart, and whether inside the blinds or out, only his sleeves are wet. Though at last called close to the blinds, he complains that, not knowing her true feelings, his tears do not cease.
According to the headnote, he had always been turned away at the gate, but was finally called up to the blinds, and when she asked whether even this did not satisfy him, he answered with this. In drawing on white dew, it also shares a motif with 893 in this book.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Isa ya mada," means "who can say, not yet," "isa" being a word that withholds judgment.
The second line, "hito no kokoro mo," means "your heart, too."
The third line, "shiratsuyu no," means "as white dew settles," with "shira" joining "shira(zu)," not knowing, and the white of white dew, leading to "oku" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "oku ni mo to ni mo," means "inside and outside," with "oku" joining dew settling and the inner side of the blinds, and "to" meaning outside.
The last line, "sode nomi zo hitsu," means "only my sleeves are soaked," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "hitsu."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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