Awazaran koto oba shirade hahakigi no fuseya to kikite tazune kinikeri

逢はざらんことをば知らで帚木の
伏屋と聞きて尋ね来にけり

Roma-ji: Awazaran koto oba shirade hahakigi no fuseya to kikite tazune kinikeri
English Translation: Never knowing that
we were not to meet at all,
like the broom-tree there,
hearing 'Fuseya,' I came
all this way in search of you.
Meaning: Not knowing that you would never meet me, I heard you lived at Fuseya where the broom-tree grows, and came all this way to find you.
Commentary: Love Poems 578

Headnote: "Seeking a lover known only by name"
The topic is seeking out someone known only by name. The hahakigi, or broom-tree, was a legendary tree said to grow at Fuseya in Sonohara in Shinano, visible from afar but vanishing as one drew near. Hearing that the person lived at Fuseya, the poet came in search of her, never knowing that, like the broom-tree, she would hide herself as he approached and refuse to meet him. The emptiness of a love pursued on rumor alone is laid over the legend of the tree.
The legend became widely known through the poem attributed to Sakanoue no Korenori beginning 'Sonohara ya / Fuseya ni ouru / hahakigi no,' and the tree was sung ever after as a figure for one who seems near yet cannot be met. This poem stands at the head of the love section, which thus begins with going in search of someone heard of but never seen.

First line, “awazaran”: she will not meet me; zara is the negative zu and n an auxiliary of conjecture.
Second line, “koto oba shirade”: de is a negative conjunctive particle, without knowing.
Third line, “hahakigi no”: the legendary broom-tree, seen from afar but vanishing as one approaches, hinting at a lover who seems within reach yet cannot be met.
Fourth line, “fuseya to kikite”: Fuseya is the place in Sonohara in Shinano where the tree was said to grow. This answers 'known by name' in the topic.
Fifth line, “tazune kinikeri”: keri expresses sudden realization: I have come all this way, the poet sighs at his own folly. This answers 'seeking' in the topic.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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