Omoedomo shirushi mo nashi to shiru mono o nani ka kokodaku aga koiwataru

思へども験もなしと知るものを
何かここだく我が恋ひわたる

Roma-ji: Omoedomo shirushi mo nashi to shiru mono o nani ka kokodaku aga koiwataru
English Translation: Though I long for you,
knowing well that it is vain,
knowing it, and yet
why is it I go on so,
longing, longing all this while
Meaning: I know it is of no use to long for you, so why do I go on longing so much?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 658

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
Knowing her longing is of no use, why does she go on longing so? She wonders at her own heart, facing the mystery of a love that reason cannot stop. Abe no Mushimaro's poem 672 in this book shares the same last two lines, so the same words of lament recur in a poem by another hand.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She left many poems in the Man'yōshū and is esteemed as a leading woman poet.

First line, "Though I long for you," uses the concessive domo.
Second line, "knowing well that it is vain," names shirushi, effect: that there is no use.
Third line, "knowing it, and yet," means though I know it.
Fourth line, "why is it I go on so," uses the questioning ka and kokodaku, "so much," closed by the attributive in the fifth line; it is the same line as the fourth of poem 672.
Fifth line, "longing, longing all this while," means do I keep on longing, ending in the attributive.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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