Waga tame ni tsuraki hito o ba okinagara nani no tsumi naki yo o ya uramimu - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わがためにつらき人をばおきながら
何の罪なき世をや恨みむ

Roma-ji: Waga tame ni tsuraki hito o ba okinagara nani no tsumi naki yo o ya uramimu
English Translation: Leaving aside her
who has been so cruel
to me all this while,
shall I resent the world then,
the world that bears no blame
Meaning: Leaving aside the one who has been so cold to me, should I resent the world, which has done nothing wrong?
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 200

Since the cause of his painful love lies with the cold beloved, the poet argues, it would be wrong to resent the blameless world. The poem is marked by its reasoning about where resentment should properly be directed.

The first line, "waga tame ni" (toward me), shows that the beloved's coldness is aimed at the speaker.
The second line, "tsuraki hito o ba," singles out the cruel one with the emphatic "ba."
The third line, "okinagara" (while leaving aside), means setting aside the one who truly deserves resentment.
The fourth line, "nani no tsumi naki" (without any fault), contrasts with poem 198 of this book, which blamed "uki mi no toga," the fault of one's own sad self; here the fault is placed on the beloved.
The final line, "yo o ya uramimu," is a rhetorical kakari-musubi of "ya" and the attributive "mu": why should I resent the world?
Source: Shika Wakashu
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