Gosenshu 10

後撰和歌集　巻第十　恋二

• 恋二] 恋歌二（行）

601

女のもとにはじめてつかはしける

Sent to a woman for the first time

藤原忠房朝臣

Lord Fujiwara no Tadafusa

人を見て　思ふおもひも　ある物を　そらにこふるぞ　はかなかりける

• おもひも] おもひは（八*）
• こふるぞ] こふるは（八*）
• はかなかりける] はかなかりけり（八*)

Seeing the person / the thoughts I think / are there, and yet / empty longing / is transient.

人を見て

This may mean catching a glimpse of the woman (as is common in monogatari), or it may refer to the couple spending a night together.

--

Tadafusa has either spent one night with the woman or just glimpsed her -- he has those memories, but even so his current position, where he has to long for her with no hope of meeting, is difficult to tolerate. Kifune sees a series of wordplays that conceal a phrase 陽もあるものを、空に...降る.

Other sources:

• 新撰万葉集４５４. Second line 思ふことだに.
• 寛平后宮歌合１６１, anonymous. Second line 思ふことだに. Kudo thinks that this is a separate poem drawn on by Tadafusa, perhaps because Tadafusa may have been too young to participate in this poetry competition (although his birth year is uncertain).