Michinoku no Adachi no hara no shiramayumi kokoro kowaku mo miyuru kimi kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

陸奥の安達の原の白真弓
心こはくも見ゆる君かな

Roma-ji: Michinoku no Adachi no hara no shiramayumi kokoro kowaku mo miyuru kimi kana
English Translation: In Michinoku,
like the bow of white wood made
on Adachi's plain,
so stubborn and so taut a heart
is the one I see in you.
Meaning: Like the white-wood bow made on the plain of Adachi in Mutsu, drawn so taut, your heart seems so stubborn to me.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 905

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that, like the bow of white wood made on the plain of Adachi in Mutsu and drawn so taut, you seem to have a hard and unyielding heart. It likens the stubbornness of a partner who will not yield to the strength of the bows for which Mutsu was famed.

First line, "Michinoku no," means "of Mutsu Province." It shares Mutsu with the third line of the preceding poem, 904, "Michinoku no."
Second line, "Adachi no hara no," means "of the plain of Adachi" in Mutsu, known for the spindle trees used to make bows.
Third line, "shiramayumi," is a bow of plain white spindle wood; from the first line to here forms a preface leading, from the bow's strong pull, to "kowaku."
Fourth line, "kokoro kowaku mo," means "so hard of heart," with "kowashi" laying the strength of a bow over the stubbornness of a heart.
Final line, "miyuru kimi kana," means "you seem to be," with "kana" expressing exclamation. It shares the ending "kimi kana," lamenting the other, with the final line of 880 in this book, "towanu kimi kana."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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