Mukawaraba waga nageki no mukui nite tare yue kimi ga mono o omowan

むかはらば我が嘆きの報いにて
誰ゆゑ君が物を思はん

Roma-ji: Mukawaraba waga nageki no mukui nite tare yue kimi ga mono o omowan
English Translation: If it should come round,
in return for all the grief
that I suffer now,
for whose sake then, I wonder,
will you too come to brood?
Meaning: If retribution comes round, then in return for my grieving, for whose sake, I wonder, will you one day come to brood over love?
Commentary: Love Poems 667

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
Drawing on the Buddhist idea that every deed brings its own retribution, the poet is taken to say that if retribution comes round, then as recompense for making him grieve so, the beloved too will one day brood over someone; and for whose sake will that be? Resentment toward a cold lover is expressed through the Buddhist notion of karmic recompense.

First line, “mukawaraba”: mukawaru is for something to come round as recompense: if retribution comes round.
Second line, “waga nageki no”: of my grieving; the line has six syllables, one too many.
Third line, “mukui nite”: as recompense, drawing on the idea of karmic retribution.
Fourth line, “tare yue kimi ga”: for whose sake will you.
Fifth line, “mono o omowan”: n is conjecture: will you brood? closing with the question.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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