Iwashiro no nonaka ni tateru musubimatsu kokoro mo tokezu mukashi omoeba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

岩代の野中に立てる結び松
心も解けず昔思へば

Roma-ji: Iwashiro no nonaka ni tateru musubimatsu kokoro mo tokezu mukashi omoeba
English Translation: In Iwashiro,
standing in the open fields,
the knotted pine;
my heart, too, cannot unbind,
thinking of the days of old.
Meaning: Like the knotted pine standing in the fields of Iwashiro, my heart too stays bound and will not loosen, when I think of the past.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1256

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that, like the knotted pine standing in the fields of Iwashiro, his heart will not loosen when he thinks of the past. Laying a heart that cannot brighten in remembering the past over the knot of a pine whose branches were tied in prayer for a safe journey and never come undone, it sings of lasting sorrow. The "tying" of the pine answers the heart that "will not loosen."
The author, written as "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. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
A similar poem appears in Book Two of the Man'yōshū as the poem of Naga no Imiki Okimaro on seeing the knotted pine of Prince Arima, with the final line "inishie omōyu."

First line, "Iwashiro no," means "of Iwashiro" in Kii, a place known for its knotted pine.
Second line, "nonaka ni tateru," means "standing in the fields," with "ru" the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri" of continuing state.
Third line, "musubimatsu," means "the knotted pine," whose branches were tied in prayer. Up to here the lines lead into "tokezu" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "kokoro mo tokezu," means "my heart too will not loosen," layering the pine's knot that will not come undone with a heart that stays bound and gloomy. The poem breaks after this fourth line.
Final line, "mukashi omoeba," means "when I think of the past," with "ba" after the perfective form expressing cause, giving the reason for the fourth line in inverted order.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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