Hiku hito mo nashi to omoishi azusayumi ima zo ureshiki moroya shitsureba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

引く人もなしと思ひし梓弓
今ぞうれしきもろやしつれば

Roma-ji: Hiku hito mo nashi to omoishi azusayumi ima zo ureshiki moroya shitsureba
English Translation: I, the catalpa bow
I had thought that no one would
ever come to draw,
now indeed am filled with joy,
for both arrows have struck home.
Meaning: I, a catalpa bow I had thought no one would ever draw, am now overjoyed, for both arrows of the pair have struck home.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1029

Headnote: "Sent to Ukon no Myōbu in the second year of Kōwa, when, having become a chamberlain of the Crown Prince, he was moved within the month to Secretary of the Ministry of Popular Affairs and twice expressed his joy"
The poet says that he, a catalpa bow he thought no one would draw, is now overjoyed, for, like both arrows of a pair striking home, he has received two appointments. The headnote shows he wrote to Ukon no Myōbu telling of his double joy when, having become a chamberlain of the Crown Prince, he was transferred within the same month to Secretary of the Ministry of Popular Affairs. Laying the one who draws the catalpa bow over the one who would raise him up, he likens his two appointments in succession to both arrows of a pair hitting the target.
Where the two preceding poems, 1027 and 1028, lamented that no one would pull them up, this poem uses the same words, "hiku hito," to sing of the joy of being raised up, and the two sides form a pair.
The author, written as "Shitagō," is Minamoto no Shitagau. Of the Saga Genji line, he took part, as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, in compiling the Gosenshū and reading the Man'yōshū, and he compiled the dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. The era name "Kōwa" in the headnote does not fit Shitagau's lifetime and appears to be a miscopying.

First line, "hiku hito mo," means "no one to draw it," the same line as the first line of the preceding poem, 1028.
Second line, "nashi to omoishi," means "I had thought there was," with "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki."
Third line, "azusayumi," a bow of catalpa wood, is associated with "hiku," to draw, in the first line, and stands for the poet himself waiting to be raised up.
Fourth line, "ima zo ureshiki," means "now I am glad," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive form of the adjective "ureshi." The poem breaks after this fourth line.
Final line, "moroya shitsureba," means "since both arrows have struck," with "tsure" the perfective form of the perfective auxiliary "tsu" and "ba" expressing cause. It gives the reason for his joy in inverted order.
Author: Minamoto no Shitagō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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