Itazura ni chitsuka kuchinishi nishikigi o nao korizuma ni omoitatsu kana - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いたづらに千束朽ちにし錦木を
なほこりずまに思ひたつかな

Roma-ji: Itazura ni chitsuka kuchinishi nishikigi o nao korizuma ni omoitatsu kana
English Translation: All in vain they lay,
a thousand wands rotted through
of nishikigi,
and yet, never learning,
I resolve to set them up
Meaning: A thousand painted wands of nishikigi have rotted away in vain, and still, never learning my lesson, I resolve to set them up once more.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 214

Drawing on the nishikigi custom of Michinoku, the poet sings of setting up the wands yet again, though a thousand have rotted unaccepted. With self-mockery, he shows the depth of an attachment that cannot give up an unrewarded love.

The first line, "itazura ni" (in vain), shows that his feelings went unrewarded.
The second line, "chitsuka kuchinishi," uses the perfective "nu" and past "ki" to state that a thousand wands have rotted away. Where poem 190 of this book sang of love's beginning, wishing to meet before a thousand stood, this poem sings of the end after a thousand have rotted, pairing beginning and end through the same custom.
The third line, "nishikigi o," names the colored wands a suitor set up at the gate of a woman's house.
The fourth line, "nao korizuma ni" (still never learning), expresses a heart that refuses to give up.
The final line, "omoitatsu kana," is a pivot word joining "omoitatsu" (to resolve) and setting up the wands, ending with the exclamatory "kana."
Source: Shika Wakashu
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