Mikomokaru shinanu no mayumi hikazu shite shiisaru waza o shiru to iwanaku ni

み薦刈る信濃の真弓引かずして
強ひさるわざを知ると言はなくに

Roma-ji: Mikomokaru shinanu no mayumi hikazu shite shiisaru waza o shiru to iwanaku ni
English Translation: The spindle bow
of Shinanu, where reeds are cut—
you have not drawn it,
and no one claims to know the art
of stringing it untried.
Meaning: You have not even drawn the fine bow of Shinano, yet no one can say they know the art of stringing it before they have tried.
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 97

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems from the time when the Meditation Master Kume courted Lady Ishikawa"
Answering the Master's question, she gently rebukes him: no one can claim to know how to string a bow they have never drawn, so how can he know whether she will refuse when he has not even asked?
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 second of them; the note "the Lady" at its end has been removed from the text of the poem.
The author, Lady Ishikawa, is otherwise unknown. Several women called Lady Ishikawa, with the title written in two different ways, appear in the Man'yōshū, and whether they are the same person is not settled.

The first line, "mikomokaru," is the same pillow word as in the preceding poem, taking up the Master's words exactly in reply.
The second line, "shinanu no mayumi," is also the same as the second line of the preceding poem.
The third line, "hikazu shite," means without drawing the bow, turning back the preceding "if I draw you" as "without even asking."
The fourth line, "shiisaru waza o," is obscure; it is most often taken to mean the art of fitting the string to a bow.
In the final line, "shiru to iwanaku ni," naku ni means "though no one says," closing with the reproof that nothing can be known before one has tried.
Author: Lady Ishikawa
Source: Manyoshu
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