Tsuraku tomo awazu wa nani no narai ni ka mi no hodo shirazu hito o uramin

つらくとも逢はずは何のならひにか
身のほど知らず人を恨みん

Roma-ji: Tsuraku tomo awazu wa nani no narai ni ka mi no hodo shirazu hito o uramin
English Translation: Cold though you may be,
had we never met at all,
from what custom then
would I, heedless of my place,
bear resentment against you?
Meaning: However cold you may be, had we never met at all, what habit would lead me to resent you, forgetting my own station?
Commentary: Love Poems 590

Headnote: "Love that has met and now cannot meet"
The topic is a love that once met and now can meet no more. Precisely because they met once, the poet now resents her, forgetting his own station; had they never met at all, he would have had no reason for resentment. The poem catches the contradiction of love, in which a single meeting becomes the very source of bitterness.

First line, “tsuraku tomo”: even if she is cold; tomo marks a concessive supposition.
Second line, “awazu wa”: if we had never met.
Third line, “nani no narai ni ka”: narai is habit or familiarity: from what habit? The binding particle ka is answered by n at the end and makes the question rhetorical.
Fourth line, “mi no hodo shirazu”: not knowing one's own station.
Fifth line, “hito o uramin”: would I resent her? Surely not; closing in the attributive form answering ka.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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