Honoka ni mo ware o Mishima no akutabi no aku to ya hito no otozure mo senu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ほのかにも我をみしまの芥火の
あくとや人の訪れもせぬ

Roma-ji: Honoka ni mo ware o Mishima no akutabi no aku to ya hito no otozure mo senu
English Translation: You saw me only
faintly, yet like the rubbish
fires of Mishima,
have you tired of me so soon
that you do not even call?
Meaning: You barely glimpsed me, and yet, like the rubbish fires of Mishima, have you already tired of me, that you do not even come to call?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 976

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says: you saw me only faintly, yet, like the "aku" of the rubbish fires of Mishima, have you already tired of me, that you do not even come to call? It sings of reproach toward a lover who stopped visiting after the briefest of meetings, through wordplay on a place-name and rubbish fires.
From this poem through 978, three poems on "aku" stand together.

First line, "honoka ni mo," means "only faintly." It shares the word with the fourth line of 968 in this book, "honoka ni hito o."
Second line, "ware o Mishima no," means "having seen me, of Mishima," with "Mishima" a pivot word joining "mishi," having seen, and Mishima, a place-name in Settsu Province.
Third line, "akutabi no," means "of the rubbish fires." The first three lines form an introductory phrase that, through the sound "aku" in "akuta," leads to "aku" in the fourth line. The faint burning of the fire echoes "honoka" in the first line.
Fourth line, "aku to ya hito no," means "tired of me, is that it, that person," with "aku" taking up the sound of "akuta" to mean "to tire of." The binding particle "ya" forms a kakari-musubi with the final line. It shares the same conceit with "Akutagawa" in the next poem, 977, and "aku" in 978.
Final line, "otozure mo senu," means "does not even come to call," concluding with "nu," the attributive of the negative "zu," in answer to "ya" in the fourth line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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