Kari ni tote ware wa kitsuredo ominaeshi miru ni kokoro zo omoitsukinuru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かりにとて我は来つれど女郎花
見るに心ぞ思ひつきぬる

Roma-ji: Kari ni tote ware wa kitsuredo ominaeshi miru ni kokoro zo omoitsukinuru
English Translation: Just to hunt, so briefly,
I came here, so I thought, yet
maidenflowers,
when I see you, my whole heart
has been captured, held by you.
Meaning: I came only briefly, for the hunt, yet when I see the maidenflowers my heart is wholly drawn to them.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 165

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet came only casually, in passing on a hunt, yet on seeing the maidenflowers his heart was entirely captured. As though answering the warning of the preceding poem, it expresses a heart that meant to be fleeting but has grown serious.
Ki no Tsurayuki was the leading compiler of the Kokinshū, the author of its Kana Preface and of the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kari ni tote," is the same first line as 163 of this book, a pivot word in which "kari" means both hunting and "for a while."
Second line, "ware wa kitsuredo," means "though I came," with the concessive particle "do."
Third line, "ominaeshi," is the maidenflower that draws the heart.
Fourth line, "miru ni kokoro zo," means "on seeing them, my heart," with the emphatic particle "zo," which is resolved by "nuru" in the final line.
Final line, "omoitsukinuru," means "has been drawn to them," with "nuru," the attributive of the perfective auxiliary "nu." Whereas the preceding poem warned the maidenflower against being plucked by someone who comes lightly, this one speaks from the side of the one who came lightly and was captivated, so the warner and the warned form a pair.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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