Auko naki mi to wa shirushiru koi su tote nageki koritsumu hito wa yoki ka wa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あふこなき身とは知る知る恋すとて
なげきこりつむ人はよきかは

Roma-ji: Auko naki mi to wa shirushiru koi su tote nageki koritsumu hito wa yoki ka wa
English Translation: With no pole to bear
and no time to meet, you know,
and still you love—
one who cuts and piles up grief
like firewood, is that wise
Meaning: Knowing you have no pole to carry it, no chance to meet, you love all the same; is one who cuts and stacks up grief like firewood really to be praised?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1043

Headnote: "Reply."
The reply asks whether one who knows he has no chance to meet, yet loves and cuts and piles up grief like firewood, can be thought wise. Taking up the mountain trees and the felling of the preceding poem, she retorts that he is the foolish one, stacking grief upon a hopeless love like cutting wood with no pole to carry it.
According to the headnote, it is the woman's reply to the preceding poem, 1042. "Auko," like "au hakari" in 1018 in this book, joins a carrying pole with meeting, and the poem is held together by associated words: the pole that carries wood and the felling of trees.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Auko naki," means "with no time to meet," with "auko" joining a pole for carrying loads and a time for meeting. It is the same device as "au hakari" in the first line of 1018 in this book.
The second line, "mi to wa shirushiru," means "knowing well that you are such," and "shirushiru" is also used in the fourth line of 1030 in this book.
The third line, "koi su tote," means "saying that you love."
The fourth line, "nageki koritsumu," means "cutting and piling grief," with "nageki" joining grief and "nagegi," firewood. Taking up "kori" of the preceding poem, it likens heaping up grief to felling and stacking wood.
The last line, "hito wa yoki ka wa," means "is such a one to be praised," with "ka wa" rhetorical.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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