Imasara ni imo ni awame ya to omoe kamo kokoda aga mune ibuseku aruramu

今さらに妹に逢はめやと思へかも
ここだ我が胸いぶせくあるらむ

Roma-ji: Imasara ni imo ni awame ya to omoe kamo kokoda aga mune ibuseku aruramu
English Translation: Now, at this late hour,
shall I ever see you again;
is that what I think,
that my heart is so weighed down,
heavy, gloomy as it is
Meaning: Is it because I feel I shall never see you again that my heart is so heavy and gloomy?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 611

Headnote: "Two poems by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi in reply"
This is the first of Yakamochi's two poems answering Lady Kasa's twenty-four. Is it because he thinks he can never see her again, he wonders, that his heart is so heavy? Against her many passionate poems, his brief reply suggests that his feelings have already drawn away.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito and a poet thought to have been deeply involved in compiling the Man'yōshū. He later rose to the rank of Middle Counselor.

First line, "Now, at this late hour," means at this point.
Second line, "shall I ever see you again," runs to six syllables, using conjectural me and rhetorical ya: could I meet her? No.
Third line, "is that what I think," joins the perfective form to kamo for a questioning condition, closed by ramu in the fifth line.
Fourth line, "that my heart is so weighed down," uses kokoda, "so very much": my heart.
Fifth line, "heavy, gloomy as it is," uses ibuseshi, "gloomy, oppressed," closing in the attributive of ramu.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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