Au koto wa Inasa hosoe no miotsukushi fukaki shirushi mo naki yo narikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことはいなさ細江のみをつくし
深きしるしもなき世なりけり

Roma-ji: Au koto wa Inasa hosoe no miotsukushi fukaki shirushi mo naki yo narikeri
English Translation: Meeting is refused—
like channel stakes at Inasa
Inlet, I give all,
yet of my deep love no sign,
no reward in this bond of ours
Meaning: Meeting is always refused, and like the channel markers in Inasa Inlet, though I give myself wholly, my deep love has no sign of reward in this world between us.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 860

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed as a love poem when presenting hundred-poem sequences to Retired Emperor Sutoku"
Like the preceding poem, it is a love poem from the Kyūan Hyakushu. Meeting is only refused, he says, and like the channel markers of Inasa Inlet, though I give myself wholly, there is no sign of reward for my deep love in this bond between us. Pivoting the place name Inasa in Tōtōmi with "ina," "no," a refusal, and the channel marker "miotsukushi" with "mi o tsukushi," "giving oneself wholly," he laments a love never rewarded however much he devotes himself. It is a highly crafted poem layering pivot words and associated words.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kiyosuke Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Akisuke, Master of the Western Capital. He carried on the poetics of the Rokujō Fujiwara house and wrote treatises on poetry such as Fukuro Zōshi and Ōgishō.
This poem is the last of the sequence of love poems from the Kyūan Hyakushu presented to Retired Emperor Sutoku.

First line, "au koto wa": "as for meeting," with "wa" marking the topic.
Second line, "Inasa hosoe no": "Inasa" pivots between the place name in Tōtōmi and "ina," "no," a refusal. "Hosoe" is a long, narrow inlet.
Third line, "miotsukushi": it pivots between "miotsukushi," stakes set up to mark a water channel, and "mi o tsukushi," "giving oneself wholly."
Fourth line, "fukaki shirushi mo": "fukaki" overlays the markers showing a deep channel and his deep love. "Shirushi" pivots between "a marker" and "an effect, a reward." "Fukaki" and "shirushi" are associated words for "miotsukushi."
Fifth line, "naki yo narikeri": "yo" is the bond between a man and a woman, and "keri" expresses the exclamation of realization. It closes lamenting, "it was a bond without reward."
Author: Fujiwara no Kiyosuke
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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