Tsurashi tote ware sae hito o wasurenaba saritote naka no tae ya hatsu beki - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つらしとて我さへ人を忘れなば
さりとて仲の絶えやはつべき

Roma-ji: Tsurashi tote ware sae hito o wasurenaba saritote naka no tae ya hatsu beki
English Translation: If, because you're cold,
I too were to forget you
as you have forgotten,
would it be right, even so,
for our bond to end for good
Meaning: If I too forgot you because you are cold to me, would it be right, even so, for our bond to break off completely?
Commentary: Book Eight Love Poems II 251

The poet asks himself whether, if he too forgot the beloved because she is cold, it would be right for their bond to end for good. Though he resents her, the poem shows a lingering attachment that cannot sever the tie.

The first line, "tsurashi tote" (because you are cold), gives the ground for forgetting.
The second line, "ware sae hito o," uses "sae": not only you, but I too.
The third line, "wasurenaba," a hypothetical with the irrealis of the perfective "nu" and "ba," means if I were to forget.
The fourth line, "saritote naka no" (even so, our bond), turns to the relationship itself.
The final line, "tae ya hatsu beki," inserts the rhetorical "ya" into "tae hatsu" (to break off completely) and closes with the attributive "beki," asking whether the bond should truly end.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shika Wakashu
Prev Poem: Namida sae idenishi kata o nagametsutsu kokoro ni mo aranu tsuki o mishi kana
Next Poem: Au koto ya namida no tama no o naruramu shibashi tayureba ochite midaruru