Waga kaeru michi no kurokoma kokoro araba kimi wa kozu tomo onore inanake - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が帰る道の黒駒心あらば
君は来ずともおのれいななけ

Roma-ji: Waga kaeru michi no kurokoma kokoro araba kimi wa kozu tomo onore inanake
English Translation: O black horse that walks
the road on which I go home,
if you have a heart,
though my love does not come here,
you at least, raise your neigh.
Meaning: Black horse on the road I take home, if you have a heart, then even if my love does not come, you at least must neigh.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 911

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem calls out: black horse on the road I take home, if you have a heart, then even if my love does not come, at least you neigh and let me know you linger. It entrusts its longing for a lover who will not come to a call to the horse.

First line, "waga kaeru," means "as I go home."
Second line, "michi no kurokoma," means "black horse on the road." With the final line of the preceding poem, 910, "ayume kurokoma," two poems on a black horse stand side by side; where the preceding poem hurries toward a lover, this one sings of the road home, forming a pair.
Third line, "kokoro araba," means "if you have a heart," with "ba" a supposition.
Fourth line, "kimi wa kozu tomo," means "even if my love does not come," with "tomo" an adversative supposition.
Final line, "onore inanake," means "you at least, neigh," with "onore" a second-person pronoun and "inanake" an imperative. Like "ayume" in the preceding poem, it closes with an imperative call to the horse.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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