Natsumushi no shiru shiru mayou omoi o ba korinu kanashi to tare ka mizaran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夏虫の知る知る迷ふおもひをば
懲りぬ悲しと誰か見ざらん

Roma-ji: Natsumushi no shiru shiru mayou omoi o ba korinu kanashi to tare ka mizaran
English Translation: Like the summer moth
that knows and yet strays toward
the burning of the flame,
such a love, never learning—
who would not find it sad
Meaning: Like a summer moth that flies into the flame knowing it will burn—who would not look on such a love, never learning, as a sorry thing?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 968

Headnote: "Reply."
Ise asks who would not see as pitiful a love like that of a summer moth that knowingly strays into the flame, never learning. Likening the "heart that has not learned" of the preceding poem to a summer moth that dives into a fire knowing it will burn, she teases him that such persistence is both sad and foolish.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 967. She takes up "korinu" and answers with the same word, and, as in 892 near the opening of the book, it is arranged as Ise answering a poem by Narihira.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and won the emperor's favor. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, her "naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Natsumushi no," means "of the summer insect," a moth or other insect that flies into flames.
The second line, "shiru shiru mayou," means "straying while knowing," drawn toward the fire though it knows it will burn.
The third line, "omoi o ba," means "such longing," with "hi" in "omoi" joining "hi," fire.
The fourth line, "korinu kanashi to," means "as sad and never learning," taking up "korinu" in the preceding poem.
The last line, "tare ka mizaran," means "who would not see it so? everyone would," with "ka" a rhetorical binding particle closed by the attributive "zaran."
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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