心をばつらきものぞと言ひおきて
変はらじと思ふ顔ぞ恋しき
変はらじと思ふ顔ぞ恋しき
- Roma-ji
-
Kokoro o ba tsuraki mono zo to iiokite kawaraji to omou kao zo koishiki
- English Translation
-
Having told me once
that the heart is a cruel thing,
leaving it at that,
how I long for that face that
thought it never would change.
- Meaning
- You warned me that the heart is a cruel thing, yet your face seemed to say you would never change—and it is that face I long for now.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 948
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says: I long for the face of the one who, having warned me that the heart is a cruel thing, seemed to think they themselves would never change. Recalling the other's face, which looked sincere even after speaking almost prophetically of a change of heart, it sings of a lingering longing.
With the next poem, 949, two poems on "face" and "heart" stand together, sharing the contrast between an unchanging face and a changing heart.
First line, "kokoro o ba," means "the heart, as for it."
Second line, "tsuraki mono zo to," means "that it is a cruel thing."
Third line, "iiokite," means "having said in advance."
Fourth line, "kawaraji to omou," means "thinking they will not change," with "ji" a negative intention. It shares the verb "kawaru" with the fourth line of the next poem, 949, "kawaranu kao zo."
Final line, "kao zo koishiki," means "how I long for that face," concluding with the attributive of the adjective "koishi" in answer to the binding particle "zo." It shares "kao zo" with the next poem, 949.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tsuraki o mo omoishiru ya wa waga tame ni tsuraki hito shimo ware o uramuru
- Next Poem
-
Asamashi ya mishi ka to dani mo omowanu ni kawaranu kao zo kokoro naramashi