Omoiyaru sube no shiraneba katamoi no soko ni zo are wa koinarinikeru

思ひ遣るすべの知らねば片もひの
底にぞ我れは恋ひ成りにける

Roma-ji: Omoiyaru sube no shiraneba katamoi no soko ni zo are wa koinarinikeru
English Translation: Knowing no good way
to dispel these thoughts of mine,
in my lonely love,
like a jar of earthenware,
I have sunk into its depths
Meaning: Not knowing how to ease my heart, I have sunk to the very bottom of a one-sided love, like the depths of an earthen bowl.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 707

Headnote: "Two poems sent by Awatame no Otome to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
Not knowing how to ease her heart, she has sunk to the bottom of an unrequited love. Katamoi carries both "one-sided love" and katamoi, an unglazed earthen bowl. At the end of the original, a small note reads "inside an earthen bowl," showing that katamoi here also means a vessel.
The author, Awatame no Otome, was a woman of whom little is known who sent poems to Ōtomo no Yakamochi.

First line, "Knowing no good way," uses omoiyaru, "to relieve one's feelings."
Second line, "to dispel these thoughts of mine," means since I do not know the means.
Third line, "in my lonely love," plays on katamoi, one-sided love and an earthen bowl.
Fourth line, "like a jar of earthenware," means at the bottom, I, with zo closed by keru in the fifth line.
Fifth line, "I have sunk into its depths," means I have become wholly given to love, ending in the attributive.
Author: Awatame no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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