Kimi ga na no tatsu ni toga naki mi nariseba ōyoso hito ni nashite mimashi ya - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君が名の立つにとがなき身なりせば
おほよそ人になして見ましや

Roma-ji: Kimi ga na no tatsu ni toga naki mi nariseba ōyoso hito ni nashite mimashi ya
English Translation: If I were a man
who bore no blame at all
for the rumor of your name,
could I see you as merely
one of the common crowd?
Meaning: If I were one who bore no blame for the rumors about you, could I look on you as just anyone at all?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 707

Headnote: "Sent to a woman"
The poem asks whether, if the poet bore no blame for the rumors about the woman, he could regard her as just anyone. The headnote shows it was sent to a woman. Where the preceding sequence lamented rumors about oneself, this poem speaks as one responsible for the rumors about the beloved and pleads that he can no longer think of her as a stranger.
The author, Fujiwara no Tadafusa, was a son of Fujiwara no Okitsugu and served as Master of the Right Capital Office among other posts. He excelled at music, and his poems also appear in the Kokinshū.

First line, "kimi ga na no," means "of your name," turning from "waga na" and "nakina" in the preceding sequence to the beloved's name.
Second line, "tatsu ni toga naki," means "blameless in its rising," with "toga" meaning a fault deserving reproach.
Third line, "mi nariseba," means "if I were one," with "seba" a counterfactual supposition.
Fourth line, "ōyoso hito ni," means "as an ordinary person."
Final line, "nashite mimashi ya," means "would I look on you so?" with "mashi" a counterfactual auxiliary and "ya" rhetorical.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kohatagawa ko wa ta ga iishi koto no ha zo nakina susugamu takitsuse mo nashi
Next Poem: Yume ka to mo omou bekeredo ne ya wa seshi nani zo kokoro ni wasuregataki wa