Chigirikoshi koto no tagau zo tanomoshiki tsurasa mo kaku ya kawaru to omoeba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

契りこしことの違ふぞ頼もしき
つらさもかくや変はると思へば

Roma-ji: Chigirikoshi koto no tagau zo tanomoshiki tsurasa mo kaku ya kawaru to omoeba
English Translation: The vows we have made—
that they are broken gives me
hope, strange as it seems:
for your coldness too, I think,
might change in just this way
Meaning: That the vows we made are now broken gives me hope, strange to say; for I think that your coldness, too, may change in just the same way.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 780

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The vows we made till now are broken, he says, and that very thing gives me hope, for perhaps your coldness too will change in the same way. It is a poem of paradox that turns the usual grief of love, a promise not kept, into a source of hope. If even vows can change, then her coldness may also change some day, and the poem expresses with wit a heart that clings to this slender hope.
The author, "Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Sadatoki. Adopted by his uncle Fujiwara no Naritoki, he served as Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, but went down to Mutsu as its governor and died there. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
This poem opens the third book of love. Poem 839 at the end of the book prays, "Do not forget our vows through lifetimes," so that the opening poem, which takes hope in broken vows, and the closing poem answer each other through the word "vow."

First line, "chigirikoshi": "ko" is the irrealis form of "ku," "to come," and "shi" the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," "the vows we have made till now." It answers "yoyo no chigiri o" in the second line of 839 at the end of the book through the word "chigiri."
Second line, "koto no tagau zo": "tagau" means for a promise to go astray, to be broken. "Zo" is an emphatic particle that binds with the attributive "tanomoshiki" in the third line.
Third line, "tanomoshiki": the conclusion of "zo." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the lower half. What should be lamented is called hopeful, a paradox.
Fourth line, "tsurasa mo kaku ya": "tsurasa" is her coldness, and "kaku" means "in the same way as the vows." "Ya" is an interrogative particle that binds with the attributive "kawaru" in the last line.
Fifth line, "kawaru to omoeba": "ba" gives a fixed condition, "since I think it may change," stating the reason for "tanomoshiki" in the third line.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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