Ukareizuru kokoro wa mi ni mo kanawaneba ika nari tote mo ika ni ka wa sen

浮かれ出づる心は身にもかなはねば
いかなりとてもいかにかはせん

Roma-ji: Ukareizuru kokoro wa mi ni mo kanawaneba ika nari tote mo ika ni ka wa sen
English Translation: The heart that drifts away,
since it will not do my will,
whatever it becomes,
whatever may come of it,
what could I ever do?
Meaning: The heart that wanders off will not do as I would have it, so whatever may become of it, what can I do?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 912

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems expressing my thoughts"
This is the last of the five. The heart that wanders off will not obey me, so whatever becomes of it, there is nothing I can do, the poet says, closing the five with the wanderer's feeling that he can only give himself up to a heart that irresistibly drifts away.

First line, “ukareizuru”: wandering off; a line of six syllables.
Second line, “kokoro wa mi ni mo”: the heart, to my self.
Third line, “kanawaneba”: since it will not obey.
Fourth line, “ika nari tote mo”: whatever becomes of it.
Fifth line, “ika ni ka wa sen”: ka wa is rhetorical; what could I do? The sound ika is repeated in the fourth and fifth lines.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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