Tsuraki o ba tsune naki mono to omoitsutsu hisashiki koto o tanomi ya wa senu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つらきをば常なきものと思ひつつ
久しきことを頼みやはせぬ

Roma-ji: Tsuraki o ba tsune naki mono to omoitsutsu hisashiki koto o tanomi ya wa senu
English Translation: Think that it's coldness
that is a thing that never lasts,
and as you think so,
why not put your trust, my dear,
in what endures so long?
Meaning: Think rather that it is coldness that does not last, and why not then trust in what endures?
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1260

Headnote: "His reply"
The emperor asks why she does not think that coldness is what does not last, and trust instead in what endures. It is Emperor Daigo's reply to the lament of the Azechi Miyasudokoro in the preceding poem, 1259. Using her very words, "impermanent," "cold" and "long," he turns them about to comfort her, saying that it is the hurt that will change, and she should trust that their bond will long endure.
The author, written as "Composed by the Engi Emperor," is Emperor Daigo. A son of Emperor Uda, his reign was praised as the Engi Rule, and he ordered the compilation of the Kokinshū.

First line, "tsuraki o ba," means "coldness," taking up the fourth line of the preceding poem, 1259, "tsuraki koto koso."
Second line, "tsune naki mono to," means "as impermanent," applying the same line as the second line of the preceding poem, 1259, to the hurt instead.
Third line, "omoitsutsu," means "thinking so."
Fourth line, "hisashiki koto o," means "what lasts long," taking up the final line of the preceding poem, 1259, "hisashikarikere," to speak of their bond lasting long.
Final line, "tanomi ya wa senu," means "why not trust it," with "ya wa" a rhetorical question urging her to trust.
Author: Emperor Daigo
Source: Shui Wakashu
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