Haru no no ni ouru nakina no wabishiki wa mi o tsumite dani hito no shiranu yo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春の野に生ふるなきなのわびしきは
身をつみてだに人の知らぬよ

Roma-ji: Haru no no ni ouru nakina no wabishiki wa mi o tsumite dani hito no shiranu yo
English Translation: On the spring meadows
the groundless name grows like greens;
what makes it bitter
is that though I pinch my flesh,
no one knows the pain I feel.
Meaning: Like greens growing in the spring fields, a groundless rumor springs up; what pains me is that even when I pinch myself, no one knows how it hurts.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 698

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem laments, through the greens of the spring meadow, the pain of a groundless rumor, saying that even by pinching oneself one cannot make others know the hurt. Pivoting "nakina," groundless name, on "na," greens growing in the fields, and "tsumi" on "picking" greens and "pinching" oneself, it entrusts a heart suffering from false rumor to the scene of gathering young greens. Drawing on the saying that one should pinch oneself to know another's pain, it complains that others do not feel for one's own pain.
This is the opening poem of the second book of love poems. From here to 706 follow poems on "nakina," a rumor without grounds. Where the closing poem, 776, sings of the sorrows of autumn, the opening sings of the spring meadow, so that the book's beginning and end answer each other in seasonal imagery moving from spring to autumn.

First line, "haru no no ni," means "on the spring meadows," calling to mind the fields where young greens are gathered.
Second line, "ouru nakina no," is a pivot word: "nakina" means a groundless name, a rumor without cause, and "na," greens growing in the field. It shares the word "nakina" with the first line of the next poem, 699, "nakina nomi."
Third line, "wabishiki wa," means "what is bitter."
Fourth line, "mi o tsumite dani," is a pivot word: "tsumi" means "picking" greens and "pinching" one's flesh, giving "even pinching myself," with "dani" an adverbial particle meaning "even." It uses the same phrasing as the first line of 730 in this book, "mi o tsumeba."
Final line, "hito no shiranu yo," means "that no one knows," with "yo" exclamatory.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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