心さへむすぶの神や作りけむ
解くるけしきも見えぬ君かな
解くるけしきも見えぬ君かな
- Roma-ji
-
Kokoro sae musubu no kami ya tsukurikemu tokuru keshiki mo mienu kimi kana
- English Translation
-
Did the god who binds
make even your very heart
tied up hard and fast?
Not the slightest sign is there
of you loosening toward me
- Meaning
- Did the god of binding fashion even your heart in a tight knot? You show not the least sign of softening toward me.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Love Poems I 205
Playing on the name of Musubu no Kami, the god of binding and matchmaking, the poet wonders whether even the beloved's heart was knotted tight in its making, so completely does she refuse to soften. Beneath the wit of the associated words "bind" and "untie" lies frustration at her coldness.
The first line, "kokoro sae" (even your heart), adds with "sae" the sense of not only body but heart as well.
The second line, "musubu no kami ya," overlaps the creating god Musubi with "musubu" (to bind tight), posing a question with "ya."
The third line, "tsukurikemu," closes "ya" with the attributive past conjectural "kemu," completing a kakari-musubi with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "tokuru keshiki mo," uses "toku" (to untie), an associated word for "musubu," to mean any sign of softening.
The final line, "mienu kimi kana," ends with the exclamatory "kana," lamenting the beloved who will not open her heart.
- Author
- Nōin
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Omowaji to omoeba itodo koishiki wa izuchi ka waga kokoro naruramu
- Next Poem
-
Hitokata ni omoi taenishi yo no naka o ikaga wa subeki shizu no odamaki