Kimi o nomi omoiyaritsutsu kami yori mo kokoro no sora ni narishi yoi kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君をのみ思ひやりつつ神よりも
心のそらになりし宵かな

Roma-ji: Kimi o nomi omoiyaritsutsu kami yori mo kokoro no sora ni narishi yoi kana
English Translation: Thinking only of you,
worrying the whole night through,
more than the thunder god
my heart rumbled in the sky,
such an evening it has been.
Meaning: Thinking only of you all the while, my heart was more lost in the sky than the thunder rolling there, such was last evening.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1241

Headnote: "Sent to the Consort of the Sen'yōden on the morning after the thunder had roared violently"
The emperor says that, thinking only of her, his heart was more lost in the sky than the thunder roaring there last evening. The headnote shows it was sent to the Consort of the Sen'yōden on the morning after violent thunder. Pivoting on "sora," the sky and an absent heart, and on "nari," to roar and to become, he conveys how through the night he kept worrying for the consort, who must have been frightened by the thunder. The Consort of the Sen'yōden was Hōshi, daughter of Fujiwara no Morotada, and enjoyed Emperor Murakami's deep favor.
The author, written as "Composed by the Tenryaku Emperor," is Emperor Murakami. A son of Emperor Daigo, his reign was praised as the Tenryaku Rule, and he ordered the compilation of the Gosenshū.

First line, "kimi o nomi," means "only you," with "nomi" limiting.
Second line, "omoiyaritsutsu," means "thinking of you all the while," with "tsutsu" expressing continuation.
Third line, "kami yori mo," means "more than the thunder," "kami" here being the thunder god.
Fourth line, "kokoro no sora ni," is a pivot word: "sora" means the "sky" where thunder rolls and a heart "elsewhere," absent.
Final line, "narishi yoi kana," is a pivot word: "nari" means the thunder "roared" and the heart "became" absent. "Shi" is the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki" and "kana" is exclamatory.
Author: Emperor Murakami
Source: Shui Wakashu
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