Iisashite todomeraru naru ikemizu no nami izukata ni omoiyoruran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

言ひさしてとどめらるなる池水の
波いづかたに思ひ寄るらん

Roma-ji: Iisashite todomeraru naru ikemizu no nami izukata ni omoiyoruran
English Translation: Words broken off short,
held back, so I hear, like water
in a garden pond—
to which shore will its ripples
turn their thoughts and drift
Meaning: Like the water of a pond held back, your words, I hear, have been cut off midway; toward which shore will the ripples of your heart now drift?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1016

Headnote: "Sent by a woman on hearing that the parents of the man she had pledged herself to were strongly forbidding it."
The poet asks toward which side the ripples of a pond, said to be held back when words were cut off midway, will drift. Likening the man restrained by his parents to the ripples of dammed water, she asks whether he will obey them or turn his heart to her.
According to the headnote, a woman sent this on hearing that the parents of the man she had pledged herself to were strongly opposed. Like the weir in 1013 in this book, it speaks of the obstacles to love through something that holds back the flow.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Iisashite," means "breaking off in mid-speech," saying that their promises were stopped midway.
The second line, "todomeraru naru," means "held back, so I hear," with "raru" passive and "naru" an auxiliary of hearsay. It takes up the parents' prohibition in the headnote.
The third line, "ikemizu no," means "of the pond water," likening the man's heart to water held back.
The fourth line, "nami izukata ni," means "to which side will the ripples."
The last line, "omoiyoruran," means "will your heart draw near," with "yoru," to draw near, an associated word with "nami," ripples, in the fourth line. "Ran" is an auxiliary of present conjecture.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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