Hito mo minu tokoro ni mukashi kimi to waga senu wazawaza o seshi zo koishiki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人も見ぬ所に昔君と我が
せぬわざわざをせしぞ恋しき

Roma-ji: Hito mo minu tokoro ni mukashi kimi to waga senu wazawaza o seshi zo koishiki
English Translation: In a place where none
could see us, long ago, you
and I together
did the things one never does,
and how I long for them now.
Meaning: How I miss the things you and I once did, things we would never do, in a place where no one could see.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1207

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says he longs for the things he and the beloved once did, things one would not ordinarily do, in a place where no one saw. Blurring the secret days the two spent alone as "senu wazawaza," things one does not do, without describing them, it frankly expresses longing for a past love. Where the preceding poem, 1206, pushed away a broken bond as a dream, here a past bond is recalled with longing.
The author, Minamoto no Kintada, was a grandson of Emperor Kōkō and served as Major Controller of the Right. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "hito mo minu," means "where no one sees," speaking of a place for the two of them alone.
Second line, "tokoro ni mukashi," means "in a place, long ago."
Third line, "kimi to waga," means "you and I."
Fourth line, "senu wazawaza o," means "the things one never does, this and that," doubling "waza," deed, to veil the couple's private doings.
Final line, "seshi zo koishiki," means "how I miss having done them," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "koishiki," the attributive form of the adjective "koishi." It contrasts with the past bond of "yume to nomi" in the first line of the preceding poem, 1206.
Author: Minamoto no Kintada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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