Iwa no ue ni ouru komatsu mo hikitsuredo nao negataki wa kimi ni zo arikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

岩の上に生ふる小松も引きつれど
なほねがたきは君にぞありける

Roma-ji: Iwa no ue ni ouru komatsu mo hikitsuredo nao negataki wa kimi ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Even the young pine
growing on the rock I've pulled,
roots and all, and yet
harder still to root and sleep,
I find, is only you.
Meaning: I have pulled up even the little pine rooted on a rock, yet harder still to uproot, and harder still to lie with, is you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 648

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that though the poet has pulled up even the little pine growing on a rock, what is hardest still to "ne" is the beloved. Pivoting "ne" on the pine's "root" and "lying together," it laments that a beloved who will not yield is far harder to win than a pine rooted in rock.

First line, "iwa no ue ni," means "on top of a rock."
Second line, "ouru komatsu mo," means "even the young pine growing there," a pine rooted in rock being hard to pull up.
Third line, "hikitsuredo," means "though I have pulled it up," with "tsure" the perfective form of the perfective "tsu" and "do" concessive.
Fourth line, "nao negataki wa," is a pivot word: "ne" means the pine's "root" and "lying together," layering "hard to uproot" with "hard to sleep with."
Final line, "kimi ni zo arikeru," means "is none other than you," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "keru," the attributive form of "keri."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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