Waga tame ni okinikukarishi hashitaka no hito no te ni ari to kiku wa makoto ka - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我がために置きにくかりしはし鷹の
人の手にありと聞くはまことか

Roma-ji: Waga tame ni okinikukarishi hashitaka no hito no te ni ari to kiku wa makoto ka
English Translation: The sparrow hawk
so hard for me to keep
upon my glove—
now it rests in another's hand,
is what I hear the truth
Meaning: That sparrow hawk I found so hard to keep—is it true, what I hear, that she now rests on another man's hand?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1215

Headnote: "A woman had been very difficult to get along with, and they had parted; when he heard she had been taken in by another man, he sent this."
The poet asks whether it is true that the sparrow hawk so hard for him to keep is now on another's hand. Likening the difficult woman to a small hawk hard to hold on the glove, he voices his surprise and lingering attachment at hearing she has been taken in by another man.
According to the headnote, he had parted from a woman very hard to get along with, and when he heard that another man had taken her in, he sent this.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known.

The first line, "Waga tame ni," means "for me."
The second line, "okinikukarishi," means "so hard to keep," overlaying keeping a hawk on the hand with keeping a woman as wife.
The third line, "hashitaka no," means "the sparrow hawk," a small hawk used in falconry, standing for the woman.
The fourth line, "hito no te ni ari to," means "is in another's hand," with an extra syllable; "hand" is associated with the hand on which a hawk is perched.
The last line, "kiku wa makoto ka," means "is what I hear the truth," asking with surprise.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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