Wakakusa ni todome mo aenu koma yori mo natsukewabinuru hito no kokoro ka - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

若草に留めもあへぬ駒よりも
なつけわびぬる人の心か

Roma-ji: Wakakusa ni todome mo aenu koma yori mo natsukewabinuru hito no kokoro ka
English Translation: Even more than a colt
that cannot be held in place
with fresh young grass,
hard to win over, so it is,
the heart of another.
Meaning: Harder to win over than a young colt that will not stay even for fresh grass—such is the heart of another.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 903

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem laments that a person's heart is harder to win over than a young colt that cannot be kept even with fresh grass. It likens a partner's unyielding heart to a colt hard to tame.

First line, "wakakusa ni," means "with fresh grass," expressing the attempt to hold a colt by feeding it young grass.
Second line, "todome mo aenu," means "cannot fully hold back," with "aenu" meaning unable to complete. It shares the idea of holding back with "todomu tomo" in the preceding poem, 902.
Third line, "koma yori mo," means "more than a colt." With "koma" in the next poem, 904, and "kurokoma" in 910 and 911, poems of horses continue through this book.
Fourth line, "natsukewabinuru," means "cannot win over," with "wabu" meaning unable to manage.
Final line, "hito no kokoro ka," means "such is a person's heart," with "ka" expressing exclamation. With the final line of the preceding poem, 902, "hito no kokoro wa," two poems ending on "a person's heart" stand side by side.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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