Nenunawa no kurushikaruran hito yori mo ware zo Masuda no ikeru kai naki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ねぬなはのくるしかるらん人よりも
我ぞますだのいけるかひなき

Roma-ji: Nenunawa no kurushikaruran hito yori mo ware zo Masuda no ikeru kai naki
English Translation: More than the one
who must suffer, as if hauling
water shield from ponds,
I suffer more—at Masuda Pond,
no point is left in living.
Meaning: More than that person, who must be suffering as if hauling in water shield, I suffer far worse—like Masuda Pond, I find no point in living.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 894

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that I suffer far more than the one who must be in pain like someone hauling in water shield, so much that there is no point in living. Layering wordplay on waterside images—the water shield plant and the Masuda Pond of Yamato—it sings as if competing over the pain of love.

First line, "nenunawa no," means "of the water shield," an aquatic plant. Since its stems are gathered by hauling, "kuru," it leads by sound to "kurushi," painful.
Second line, "kurushikaruran," means "must be suffering," with "kuru" joining hauling in the water shield and "kurushi." "Ran" is an auxiliary of present conjecture.
Third line, "hito yori mo," means "more than that person."
Fourth line, "ware zo Masuda no," means "I, far more," with "masuda" a pivot word joining "masu," to exceed, and Masuda Pond in Yamato Province.
Final line, "ikeru kai naki," means "no point in living," with "ikeru" a pivot word joining "ike," the pond at Masuda, and "ikeru," living. It concludes in the attributive "naki" in answer to "zo."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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