Aimite no nochi no kokoro ni kurabureba mukashi wa mono mo omowazarikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ひ見ての後の心にくらぶれば
昔はものも思はざりけり

Roma-ji: Aimite no nochi no kokoro ni kurabureba mukashi wa mono mo omowazarikeri
English Translation: When I compare it
with the heart I've had since
we met and were one,
I see that in days gone by
I knew nothing of longing.
Meaning: Compared with the heart I have had since we met and became lovers, in the days before I knew nothing of what it is to long.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 710

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that, compared with the heart after meeting and becoming lovers, the brooding of the days before was hardly brooding at all. Where one had thought fulfillment would satisfy the heart, longing grows only stronger after the meeting, and the poem states this paradox of love directly. It is a celebrated poem chosen for the Hyakunin Isshu, where the fourth line reads "mukashi wa mono o." From here to 716 follow poems that sing of longing growing stronger after a meeting.
The author, written as "Gon Chūnagon Atsutada," is Fujiwara no Atsutada. A son of Fujiwara no Tokihira, Minister of the Left, he rose to Junior Third Rank and Provisional Middle Counselor. Known as a master of the biwa, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "aimite no," means "since we met," with "aimiru" meaning a man and woman meeting as lovers. It is followed by poems beginning with the same word: the first line of the next poem, 711, "aimite wa," and the first lines of 712 and 716 in this book, "aimite mo."
Second line, "nochi no kokoro ni," means "with the heart afterward," sharing "nochi," after, with the fourth line of the preceding poem, 709, "samete no nochi ni."
Third line, "kurabureba," means "when I compare," with "ba" after the perfective form meaning "when I do so."
Fourth line, "mukashi wa mono mo," means "in the past, any longing," referring to the days before the meeting. The Hyakunin Isshu has "mukashi wa mono o."
Final line, "omowazarikeri," means "I did not know," with "keri" expressing realization.
Author: Fujiwara no Atsutada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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