Waga seko shi togemu to iwaba hitogoto wa shigeku ari tomo idete awamashi o

我が背子し遂げむと言はば人言は
繁くありとも出でて逢はましを

Roma-ji: Waga seko shi togemu to iwaba hitogoto wa shigeku ari tomo idete awamashi o
English Translation: If you, my dear one,
said you would see our love through,
then though people's talk
might be ever so thick,
I would go out and meet you
Meaning: If only you would say you mean to see our love through, I would go out and meet you, however thick the gossip might be.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 539

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems sent by Princess Takata to Prince Imaki"
If only he would say plainly that he means to see their love through, she says, she would go out and meet him however troublesome the gossip. She asks for his resolve. Following the preceding poem, which blamed rumor for her absence, she reveals her true mind: all depends on his commitment.
The author, Princess Takata, is thought to be a daughter of Prince Takayasu. The recipient, Prince Imaki, was the son of Ōtomo no Iratsume and was later granted the surname Ōhara no Mahito.

First line, "If you, my dear one," singles out her lover with the emphatic shi.
Second line, "said you would see our love through," uses the volitional mu and hypothetical -ba: if you said you would carry it through.
Third line, "then though people's talk," repeats hitogoto, the first word of the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "might be ever so thick," uses tomo for a concessive supposition: even if it were thick.
Fifth line, "I would go out and meet you," uses mashi, the counterfactual auxiliary: I would go and meet you, a phrase tinged with dissatisfaction that it is not so.
Author: Princess Takata
Source: Manyoshu
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