Hito wa ushi nageki wa tsuyu mo nagusamazu sa wa ko wa ika ni subeki kokoro zo

人は憂し嘆きは露も慰まず
さはこはいかにすべき心ぞ

Roma-ji: Hito wa ushi nageki wa tsuyu mo nagusamazu sa wa ko wa ika ni subeki kokoro zo
English Translation: She is cold to me,
and my grief is not consoled
in the least, not at all:
then what, oh what, is to be
done with such a heart as this?
Meaning: You are cold, and my grief is not eased in the least. Then what, oh what, am I to do with this heart?
Commentary: Love Poems 682

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
The beloved is cold, and the poet's grief is not eased in the least. What then, he asks in bewilderment, is to be done with this heart? The impasse of a love that can rely neither on the beloved nor on oneself is expressed through questions pressed one upon another.

First line, “hito wa ushi”: ushi is painful, bitter: she is cold. The poem breaks after the first line.
Second line, “nageki wa tsuyu mo”: tsuyu mo with a negative means not in the least.
Third line, “nagusamazu”: is not eased, and the poem breaks here too.
Fourth line, “sa wa ko wa ika ni”: sa wa is then, and ko wa this: expressing shock and bewilderment.
Fifth line, “subeki kokoro zo”: what is to be done with this heart? zo presses the question to close.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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