Nazo mo kaku koto atarashiku hito no tou ware mono omou furinishi mono o

なぞもかく事新しく人の問ふ
我物思ふふりにしものを

Roma-ji: Nazo mo kaku koto atarashiku hito no tou ware mono omou furinishi mono o
English Translation: Why is it that now,
as if it were something new,
people come to ask?
This brooding of mine has long
grown old and worn with time.
Meaning: Why do people ask about it now as though it were something new? My brooding grew old long ago.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1317

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
Why do people ask about it now, as if it were something new? the poet asks; my brooding has long grown old.
People only now notice and ask about a long-standing love sorrow as though it were news, yet to him it is old; the poem shows the length of the love. Like 1281, it sings of how long a love has lasted when its tears and brooding have become everyday.

First line, “nazo mo kaku”: why thus.
Second line, “koto atarashiku”: as if it were something new.
Third line, “hito no tou”: people ask; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “ware mono omou”: my brooding.
Fifth line, “furinishi mono o”: furu is to grow old; mono o is a concessive exclamation, "though it has long grown old."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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