Okidokoro naki omoi to shi kikitsureba ware ni ikura mo araji to zo omou - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

置き所なき思ひとし聞きつれば
我にいくらもあらじとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Okidokoro naki omoi to shi kikitsureba ware ni ikura mo araji to zo omou
English Translation: Longings with no place
to set them down, so you say,
and having heard it,
of them all, I think, there can
be little enough for me
Meaning: Since I hear these are longings with no place to set them down, I think there can be very few of them meant for me.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1053

Headnote: "Reply."
The reply says that since she hears his longings have no place to rest, she thinks few of them can be meant for her. Taking up "okidokoro naki" from the preceding poem, she teases that if they have nowhere to rest, little of them can be directed at her.
According to the headnote, it is the woman's reply to the preceding poem, 1052. Where he said his longings were "kimi ni aru," given to her, she answers "ware ni ikura mo araji," few are with me, turning many into few.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Okidokoro," means "a place to set them," taking up the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "naki omoi to shi," means "longings with none," with "shi" an emphatic adverbial particle.
The third line, "kikitsureba," means "since I have heard," with "tsure" the perfective of the auxiliary of completion "tsu."
The fourth line, "ware ni ikura mo," means "to me, so many," set against "omoi wa kimi ni" in the second line of the preceding poem.
The last line, "araji to zo omou," means "I think there are not," with "ji" a negative auxiliary of conjecture and "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "omou."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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