Uruwashi to aga mou kokoro hayakawa no seki ni seku tomo nao ya kuenamu

うるはしと我が思ふ心速川の
塞きに塞くともなほや崩えなむ

Roma-ji: Uruwashi to aga mou kokoro hayakawa no seki ni seku tomo nao ya kuenamu
English Translation: This heart of mine that
holds you dear, like rushing streams,
though I dam it up,
dam and dam it all I can,
still, I think, the dam will break
Meaning: My heart that holds you dear is like a rushing river; however I try to dam it, the dam will surely break.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 687

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
The heart that holds him dear, she says, cannot be held back, just as a dam across a swift river will break however it is shored up. It is a powerful figure likening fierce love to a torrent.
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, "This heart of mine that," means thinking you dear.
Second line, "holds you dear, like rushing streams," means the heart with which I love.
Third line, "though I dam it up," names a swift river.
Fourth line, "dam and dam it all I can," doubles seku, "to dam," to show desperate effort to hold it back.
Fifth line, "still, I think, the dam will break," uses the questioning ya, perfective na, and conjectural mu: will it not break after all?
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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