Uchihisasu miya ni yuku ko o makanashimi tomureba kurushi yareba sube nashi

うちひさす宮に行く子をま悲しみ
留むれば苦し遣ればすべなし

Roma-ji: Uchihisasu miya ni yuku ko o makanashimi tomureba kurushi yareba sube nashi
English Translation: To the sunlit court
goes the maiden, and so dear
is she to my heart:
if I stop her, it is pain;
if I let her go, despair
Meaning: So dear to me is the girl who goes to serve at the sunlit court that to keep her back would pain her, and to let her go leaves me helpless.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 532

Headnote: "Two poems by Ōtomo no Sukune Sukunamaro, third son of the Saho Major Counselor"
Loving a woman who is leaving to serve at the palace, the poet is torn: to keep her back would pain her, and to let her go would leave him helpless. It seems to sing of parting from a sweetheart going to court as an uneme or the like, and by setting "if I stop her, it is pain" against "if I let her go, despair" as parallel phrases, it sums up his wavering heart in a few words.
The author, Ōtomo no Sukunamaro, was according to the headnote's note the third son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro, the Saho Major Counselor, and a younger brother of Ōtomo no Tabito. He became the husband of Lady Sakanoue and father of her daughters, the elder and younger ladies of Sakanoue.

First line, "To the sunlit court," is uchihisasu, a pillow word for "palace," taken to mean shining with sunlight.
Second line, "goes the maiden, and so dear," means the girl who goes to serve at court; ko is an affectionate word for a young woman.
Third line, "is she to my heart," uses the prefix ma with kanashimi, the adjective kanashi, "dear," plus mi: because she is so dear.
Fourth line, "if I stop her, it is pain," means to hold her back is painful; the sense breaks here, and the line pairs with the fifth.
Fifth line, "if I let her go, despair," means to send her off leaves me helpless. Paired with the fourth line, it sums up a heart that suffers whichever it chooses.
Author: Ōtomo no Sukunamaro
Source: Manyoshu
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