Michinoku no Obuchi no koma mo nogau ni wa are koso masare natsuku mono ka wa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

陸奥の尾駮の駒も野飼ふには
荒れこそまされなつくものかは

Roma-ji: Michinoku no Obuchi no koma mo nogau ni wa are koso masare natsuku mono ka wa
English Translation: Even the young colts
of Obuchi in Michinoku,
when left to graze the fields,
only grow the wilder still—
how could they ever be tamed
Meaning: Even the colts of Obuchi in Michinoku, left to roam and graze the open fields, only grow wilder—how could they ever become tame?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems IV 1252

Headnote: "When the man, whatever he may have thought at first, saw that the woman was not at ease with him and said that she strangely did not seem to care for him."
The poet says that even the colts of Obuchi in Michinoku only grow wilder when left to graze, and asks how they could be tamed. Likening herself, left alone by a man who seldom visits, to a colt set loose in the fields, she retorts that her coolness is his own doing.
According to the headnote, the man, whatever he had felt at first, saw that she did not warm to him and remarked that she strangely seemed not to care, so she composed this.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known.

The first line, "Michinoku no," means "of Michinoku."
The second line, "Obuchi no koma mo," means "even the colts of Obuchi," a pasture in Michinoku famed in poetry for its horses.
The third line, "nogau ni wa," means "when left to graze in the fields," a figure for herself, left alone by a man who does not come.
The fourth line, "are koso masare," means "they only grow wilder," with "koso" closed by the realis "masare," running on with a concessive turn.
The last line, "natsuku mono ka wa," means "how could they be tamed? They could not," with "ka wa" rhetorical.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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