Utoku naru hito wa kokoro no kawaru tomo ware to wa hito ni kokoro okareji

疎くなる人は心の変はるとも
我とは人に心置かれじ

Roma-ji: Utoku naru hito wa kokoro no kawaru tomo ware to wa hito ni kokoro okareji
English Translation: The one growing distant,
though their heart may change toward me,
so be it, even so:
from my side I will not give them
cause to set their heart apart.
Meaning: Even if the heart of the one growing distant should change, I myself will never give them cause to hold their heart apart from me.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1499

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Love"
The seventh of the ten poems on love. Even if the heart of the beloved who is drawing away should change, he will never on his part give cause for her to hold him at a distance.
It sings of single-hearted love that accepts the other's change while resolving to remain unchanged itself. Using kokoro twice, it contrasts the changing heart of the other with his own unchanging one.

First line, “utoku naru”: growing distant.
Second line, “hito wa kokoro no”: the other's heart.
Third line, “kawaru tomo”: tomo is a concessive hypothetical, "even if it changes."
Fourth line, “ware to wa hito ni”: ware to wa means from my own side.
Fifth line, “kokoro okareji”: kokoro oku is to set a distance in the heart, and ji is negative intention, "I will not give cause to be held apart."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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