Kokorozashi arite nomi ya wa hito o tou nasake wa nado to omou bakari zo

心ざしありてのみやは人を問ふ
情けはなどと思ふばかりぞ

Roma-ji: Kokorozashi arite nomi ya wa hito o tou nasake wa nado to omou bakari zo
English Translation: Is it only when
there is love that one visits
another? Not so:
'why no kindness, then?' is all
that I find myself thinking.
Meaning: Does one visit another only out of love? Surely not; I can only wonder why you will not show me even a little kindness.
Commentary: Love Poems 687

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
People do not visit others only when they feel deep love. Even without love, the beloved might at least show some passing kindness, and the poet can only wonder why even that is lacking. Having given up hope of deep love, he resents one who will not offer even the slightest kindness.
It resonates with 'surely you have at least a token of kindness' in 672 of this book, singing of a heart that asks for kindness at the very least.

First line, “kokorozashi”: kokorozashi is love, affection for another.
Second line, “arite nomi ya wa”: ya wa is a rhetorical binding particle answered by the attributive tou in the third line: only when there is love?
Third line, “hito o tou”: tou is to visit or to send word, closing in the attributive form answering ya wa; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “nasake wa nado to”: nasake is kindness, and nado is why: why is there no kindness?
Fifth line, “omou bakari zo”: that is all I think, zo closing with emphasis.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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