Ina to iwaba shiime ya waga se suga no ne no omoimidarete koitsutsu mo aramu

いなと言はば強ひめや我が背菅の根の
思ひ乱れて恋ひつつもあらむ

Roma-ji: Ina to iwaba shiime ya waga se suga no ne no omoimidarete koitsutsu mo aramu
English Translation: If you tell me "no,"
would I press you, my dear lord;
like the tangled roots
of the sedge, in troubled thought
I will go on longing still
Meaning: If you say no, would I force you, my love? Like the tangled roots of the sedge, I will go on longing for you with a troubled heart.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 679

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems sent by Nakatomi no Iratsume to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
In the last of the five, she says that if he refuses, she will not force him, but will go on longing with a troubled heart. Accepting his rejection, she still cannot let go of her love.
The author, Nakatomi no Iratsume, was a woman of the Nakatomi clan of whom little is known, one of the women who sent love poems to Ōtomo no Yakamochi.

First line, "If you tell me 'no,'" runs to six syllables.
Second line, "would I press you, my dear lord," uses the rhetorical meya: would I force you? No, my love. The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "like the tangled roots," is suga no ne no, a pillow word for "troubled," since sedge roots are long and tangled.
Fourth line, "of the sedge, in troubled thought," means with a confused heart.
Fifth line, "I will go on longing still," runs to eight syllables; it is the same last line as poem 487 in this book.
Author: Nakatomi no Iratsume
Source: Manyoshu
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