Azusayumi hikimi hikazumi kozu wa kozu koba ko so o nazo yoso ni koso mime - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

梓弓引きみ引かずみ来ずは来ず
来ば来そをなぞよそにこそ見め

Roma-ji: Azusayumi hikimi hikazumi kozu wa kozu koba ko so o nazo yoso ni koso mime
English Translation: Like a catalpa bow,
now drawn and now not drawn, if
you won't come, don't come;
if you'll come, come; why then this?
I'll look on you from afar.
Meaning: Like a catalpa bow now drawn, now left undrawn: if you won't come, don't come, if you'll come, then come; why are you neither? Then I will watch you as one apart.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1196

The poet says that like a catalpa bow now drawn and now not, the partner should stay away if not coming and come if coming; if neither, the poet will regard the partner as a stranger. Likening the partner's vague behavior, neither coming nor staying away, to a bow drawn and not drawn, it thrusts away its impatience with lively wordplay repeating "ko," come. Following the poem on waiting for one who does not come in the preceding poem, 1195, it sings of a partner who neither comes nor stays away.
The author, written as "Kakinomoto no Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet who served in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, he is revered as the Saint of Poetry.
A similar poem appears in Book Eleven of the Man'yōshū. In the main text, the headnote field reads "not recorded," and no headnote is given.

First line, "azusayumi," a bow made of catalpa wood, is a pillow word leading to "hiki" in the second line through "drawing" a bow.
Second line, "hikimi hikazumi," means "now drawing, now not drawing," with "mi" a suffix marking alternating actions. It likens the partner's wavering heart to a bow drawn and not drawn.
Third line, "kozu wa kozu," means "if you won't come, then don't," pairing with "koba ko" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "koba ko so o nazo," means "if you'll come, come; then why," with "nazo" expressing a question. With the third line it piles up the word "ko," flinging the words out in a lively rhythm.
Final line, "yoso ni koso mime," means "I will look on you as one apart," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by "me," the perfective form of the auxiliary of intention "mu."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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