Izukata ni yoru to ka wa mimu aoyagi no ito sadamenaki hito no kokoro o - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いづ方によるとかは見む青柳の
いと定めなき人の心を

Roma-ji: Izukata ni yoru to ka wa mimu aoyagi no ito sadamenaki hito no kokoro o
English Translation: Toward which side should
I expect it to lean, twist,
like the green willow's
threads, so utterly unfixed,
the heart of the one I love?
Meaning: Toward which side should I expect it to lean, that heart of my beloved, as utterly unsettled as the threads of the green willow?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 815

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem laments, of a person's heart as unsettled as green willow threads swaying this way and that in the wind, which way one should expect it to lean. It lays a fickle lover's heart over willow branches swaying at the wind's will.

First line, "izukata ni," means "toward which side."
Second line, "yoru to ka wa mimu," is a pivot word: "yoru" means the heart "leaning" and thread "twisting." "ka wa" is an interrogative binding particle concluding in the attributive form of the conjectural "mu," with a caesura here.
Third line, "aoyagi no," means "of the green willow," leading to "ito." It shares the willow thread with the second line of the preceding poem, 814, "yanagi no ito mo."
Fourth line, "ito sadamenaki," is a pivot word: "ito" means the willow's "thread" and the adverb "ito," utterly.
Final line, "hito no kokoro o," means "that person's heart," inverted to turn back to the second line. Where the final line of the preceding poem, "waga kokoro kana," sings of one's own heart, this poem sings of the lover's heart, so the two form a pair.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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