Ōnaraba kamo kamo semu o kashikomi to furitaki sode o shinobite aru kamo

おほならばかもかもせむを畏みと
振りたき袖を忍びてあるかも

Roma-ji: Ōnaraba kamo kamo semu o kashikomi to furitaki sode o shinobite aru kamo
English Translation: Were you of common rank,
I would do this and do that—
but held back by awe,
the sleeves I long to wave
I hold still, and bear it so
Meaning: If you were of ordinary rank, I would do this and that to show my grief; but because I am in awe of you, I hold back the sleeves I long to wave.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 965

Headnote: "Two poems composed by a young woman in the twelfth month of winter when Lord Ōtomo, Governor-General of the Dazaifu, went up to the capital"
This poem says that if the departing lord were of ordinary rank the poet would show her sorrow at parting freely, but because she is in awe of him she holds back the sleeves she longs to wave. According to the headnote, it is one of two poems composed by a young woman when Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of the Dazaifu, went up to the capital.
According to the left note, in the twelfth month of Tenpyō 2 (730), Tabito, now also appointed Major Counselor, set out for the capital, and that day halted his horse at the Mizuki and looked back toward the Dazaifu. Among the officials seeing him off was a wandering entertainer named Kojima, who, grieving that parting is easy and meeting again hard, wiped away her tears and recited poems of waving sleeves. The Mizuki was an earthwork built to guard the northwest approach to the Dazaifu.
The poet, Kojima, is described in the left note as a wandering entertainer. Such women entertained officials at banquets with song and dance, and many of them were accomplished in poetry.

This poem and the next, 966, form a pair: this one holds back from waving her sleeves, "the sleeves I long to wave I hold still," while the next at last waves them, "do not think it rude that I wave my sleeves," tracing the rising force of her feelings at parting.
The first line, "Were you of common rank," is spoken in awareness that Tabito is a noble returning to the capital as Major Counselor.
The second line, "I would do this and do that," uses the particle "o" in an adversative sense, showing the wish to grieve the parting as freely as she pleases.
The third line, "but held back by awe," means "because I am in awe." Like "with such awe" in 962 of this book, it expresses reverence toward one of high rank.
The fourth line, "the sleeves I long to wave," refers to waving the sleeves, a gesture used at partings to convey one's feelings to the other.
The final line, "I hold still, and bear it so," means "I am holding back," with "kamo" as an exclamatory particle. In the figure restraining her wish to wave, the depth of her grief at parting shows through all the more.
Author: Kojima
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Waga seko ni koureba kurushi itoma araba hiriite yukamu koiwasuregai
Next Poem: Yamatoji wa kumogakuritari shikaredomo waga furu sode o nameshi tomou na