Karikomo no omoi midarete ware kou to imo shirurame ya hito shi tsugezu wa - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

刈り菰の思ひ乱れて我恋ふと
妹知るらめや人し告げずは

Roma-ji: Karikomo no omoi midarete ware kou to imo shirurame ya hito shi tsugezu wa
English Translation: Like cut rushes strewn
in tangles, my heart is torn
and that I love her
how could she ever know it
if no one were to tell her
Meaning: My thoughts are tangled like cut rushes as I love her, but could she know it? Not unless someone were to tell her.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 485

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet laments that the beloved surely does not know of a love as tangled as cut rushes lying in disarray. It expresses the frustration that a love kept hidden in the heart cannot reach its object unless someone carries word. The address to the beloved as imo and the use of a pillow word give it an archaic tone akin to the poems of the Man'yoshu.

First line, "Like cut rushes strewn": karikomo, cut rushes, is a pillow word modifying "to be tangled," since cut rushes easily fall into disarray.
Second line, "in tangles, my heart is torn": omoi midarete means the heart in turmoil. Poem 514 of this book also has the line "omoi midarete," sharing the image of a disordered heart.
Third line, "and that I love her": ware kou to means "that I am in love."
Fourth line, "how could she ever know it": imo is an affectionate term a man uses for his beloved or wife. Rame ya is the auxiliary ramu with the rhetorical ya, meaning "would she know? surely not." The poem pauses here in an inverted structure.
Fifth line, "if no one were to tell her": shi is an emphatic particle and zu wa means "if not." Placing the condition at the end gives the reason for the rhetorical question of the fourth line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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