Mikomokaru shinanu no mayumi waga hikaba umahito sabite ina to iwamu kamo

み薦刈る信濃の真弓我が引かば
貴人さびていなと言はむかも

Roma-ji: Mikomokaru shinanu no mayumi waga hikaba umahito sabite ina to iwamu kamo
English Translation: Like the spindle bow
of Shinanu, where reeds are cut,
if I draw you near,
will you, like some noble one,
say "No" and turn me away?
Meaning: If I were to draw you to me, as one draws a fine bow of Shinano, would you put on the airs of a noble lady and say "No"?
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 96

Headnote: "Five poems from the time when the Meditation Master Kume courted Lady Ishikawa"
Overlaying the drawing of a bow from Shinano onto the act of drawing a woman's heart, the speaker sounds her out, asking whether she will play the noble lady and refuse him.
According to the headnote, these are five poems from the time when the Meditation Master Kume courted Lady Ishikawa, and small notes, "the Master" or "the Lady," appended to each poem identify the speaker. The sequence is a dialogue in the language of archery: the Master's question, two answers from the Lady, and two replies from the Master. This is the first of them; the note "the Master" at its end has been removed from the text of the poem.
The author, the Meditation Master Kume, is otherwise unknown. Zenji, "meditation master," was a title for a monk trained in Buddhist practice.

The first line, "mikomokaru," is a pillow word for Shinano. Mi is a prefix, and the epithet is said to arise from the reeds that grew thickly there. The next poem, 97, begins with the same line.
The second line, "shinanu no mayumi," is a bow of spindle wood made in Shinano, a famous local product. The preface ends here and leads to hiku, "to draw."
The third line, "waga hikaba," joins drawing a bow with drawing a woman's heart, that is, inviting her.
In the fourth line, "umahito sabite," sabu means to behave in the manner of something: putting on the airs of a noble person.
In the final line, "ina to iwamu kamo," ina is a word of refusal and kamo an exclamation carrying a question: will you say no?
Author: Meditation Master Kume
Source: Manyoshu
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