Masokagami togishi kokoro o yurushiteba nochi ni iu tomo shirushi arame ya mo

まそ鏡磨ぎし心をゆるしてば
後に言ふとも験あらめやも

Roma-ji: Masokagami togishi kokoro o yurushiteba nochi ni iu tomo shirushi arame ya mo
English Translation: Like a polished mirror,
once I let this heart of mine,
honed so keen, go slack,
though I speak of it later,
would it be of any use
Meaning: Once I have let go of this heart I have kept polished and keen as a clear mirror, what use would it be to complain afterward?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 673

Headnote: "Two poems by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
Once she yields the heart she has so carefully guarded, she says, it will do no good to complain later, and she cautions herself. It shows her hesitation to give herself up to love.
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, "Like a polished mirror," is masokagami, a clear mirror, a pillow word for togu, "to polish."
Second line, "once I let this heart of mine," means the heart I have honed, a heart held firmly in guard.
Third line, "honed so keen, go slack," uses te, irrealis of the perfective tsu, with -ba: if I should let it go.
Fourth line, "though I speak of it later," means whatever I might say afterward.
Fifth line, "would it be of any use," uses the rhetorical meya mo: would it help? Not at all.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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