Ina to iedo shiuru Shii no ga shiigatari kono koro kikazute are koinikeri

いなと言へど強ふる志斐のが強ひ語り
このころ聞かずて我れ恋ひにけり

Roma-ji: Ina to iedo shiuru Shii no ga shiigatari kono koro kikazute are koinikeri
English Translation: Though I say, "No more,"
Shii, who presses on and on,
with her pressing tales—
not hearing them these past days,
I have come to long for them.
Meaning: Though I told her "enough," old Shii kept pressing her stories on me—yet having not heard them lately, I find I have come to miss them.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 236

Headnote: "A poem bestowed by the Emperor upon the old woman Shii"
The Emperor teases the old woman Shii. Her stories, pressed on the listener even when refused, are missed once they stop—an affectionate jest. The wordplay repeating the sound shii in shiuru ("pressing"), Shii, and shiigatari ("pressing tales") is the heart of the poem, which forms an exchange with Shii's reply in the next poem.
The poet, Empress Jitō, was a daughter of Emperor Tenji and consort of Emperor Tenmu; after Tenmu's death she ascended the throne and built the Fujiwara capital. The headnote says only "the Emperor," but she is generally taken to be Jitō.

First line "Though I say, 'No more'": ina is a word of refusal, and iedo gives a concessive sense. The poem begins with the listener declining to hear more.
Second line "Shii, who presses on": shiuru is the attributive form of shiu, "to force." The no after Shii is an affectionate suffix, and the sounds of shiu and Shii echo each other.
Third line "her pressing tales" again repeats shii, playfully tying the old woman's name to her manner of storytelling.
Fourth line "not hearing them these past days": zute joins the negative zu to the connective te, giving "since I have not heard."
Fifth line "I have come to long for them": kou here means to miss, and nikeri voices sudden realization—the tiresome tales have become dear.
Author: Empress Jito
Source: Manyoshu
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