Kaya 蚊帳

"Disillusioned with this world,

I retreat my heart into a veil of net." 

Itō yo o noita kokoro zo kaya no naka

厭ふ世を退いた心ぞ蚊帳の中

Goshu, d. 1788

厭ふ（いとう, itō）
to loathe, to feel disillusioned with

世（よ, yo）
the world, society, human affairs

を（o）
object marker

退いた（のいた, noita）
to withdraw, to step back, to retreat

心（こころ, kokoro）
heart, mind, inner feeling

ぞ（zo）
classical emphatic particle

蚊帳（かや, kaya）
mosquito net

の（no）
possessive or locative particle

中（なか, naka）
inside, within

厭ふ

This is a classical verb in the 四段活用 (yodan conjugation). The dictionary form ends in -ふ rather than modern -う. In modern Japanese it corresponds to 厭う (いとう). Here it is in the attributive form, modifying 世. Classical Japanese often uses the attributive where modern Japanese would still use a plain form.




世を

世 is the object of 厭ふ. The particle を already functions exactly as in modern Japanese, marking the direct object.




退いた

This is the past (完了) form of 退く. In classical usage, 退く can mean “to withdraw oneself,” not necessarily a physical stepping back. The past form is used attributively to modify 心. In classical Japanese, past forms commonly act as adjectives, meaning “a heart that has withdrawn.”




心

The subject noun of the sentence. Classical Japanese frequently omits an explicit subject marker like が. The noun simply stands as the topic or subject.




ぞ

This is the key classical element. ぞ is a 強意の係助詞, an emphatic binding particle. When ぞ appears, it triggers 係り結び. That means the sentence must end in a predicative form that matches the emphatic particle.




蚊帳の中

This is the predicate phrase. の is the genitive particle, as in modern Japanese. 中 functions as a locative noun. Because of ぞ, the sentence ends in 中, a nominal form, rather than a verb or adjective. This satisfies 係り結び

In modern Japanese word order, the structure would feel like:

「世を厭い、退いた心は蚊帳の中だ。」

Yo o itoi, shirizoita kokoro wa kaya no nakada.