Imasara ni koishi to iu mo tanomarezu kore mo kokoro no kawaru to omoeba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今さらに恋しといふも頼まれず
これも心の変はると思へば

Roma-ji: Imasara ni koishi to iu mo tanomarezu kore mo kokoro no kawaru to omoeba
English Translation: Now, after all this,
though you say that you love me,
I cannot trust it;
for this too, I think, is but
your heart changing once again
Meaning: That you say now, after all this time, that you love me—I cannot trust it; for I think this too is only your heart changing.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 891

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'love cold at first and fond later'"
This poem was composed on the topic "love cold at first and fond later," a love in which a beloved who was cold at first later turns warm. That you say now that you love me, she says, I cannot trust, for I think this too is your heart changing. Even if one who was cold at first now says he loves her, it is because his heart has changed, and a heart that changes will surely change again some day: the poem conveys a heart unable to believe his words. It is a witty poem that turns the spirit of the topic on its head.
The author, "Nijōin no Sanuki," was the daughter of Minamoto no Yorimasa. She served Emperor Nijō and later Gishūmon'in, empress of Emperor Go-Toba. A poem of hers is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Poem 881 in this book says "kawaru kokoro o miru yori mo," lamenting a lover's change of heart, while this poem sings that even when love is professed because a heart has changed, it cannot be trusted, and both sing of a heart that "changes."

First line, "imasara ni": "now, at this late hour," answering "fond later" in the topic.
Second line, "koishi to iu mo": "mo" carries an adversative sense, "even if you say you love me."
Third line, "tanomarezu": "re" is the irrealis of the potential "ru" and "zu" the negative auxiliary, "I cannot rely on it." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kore mo kokoro no": "kore" refers to his now saying he loves her, and "mo" adds "this too, like the coldness at first." Like "kawaru kokoro o" in the second line of 881 in this book, it sings of a heart that changes.
Fifth line, "kawaru to omoeba": "ba" gives a fixed condition, "since I think it is your heart changing." It closes by giving the reason for "tanomarezu" in the third line.
Author: Nijoin no Sanuki
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Suminareshi Sano no Nakagawa setae shite nagare kawaru wa namida narikeri
Next Poem: Koisomeshi kokoro no iro no nani nareba omoikaesu ni kaerazaruran