Ōmi no ya yabase no shino o ya hagazute makoto ariemu ya kōshiki mono o

近江のや八橋の小竹を矢はがずて
まことありえむや恋しきものを

Roma-ji: Ōmi no ya yabase no shino o ya hagazute makoto ariemu ya kōshiki mono o
English Translation: In Ōmi land
the bamboo grass of Yabase,
not fletching arrows,
could I truly let it be,
I who long for it so much?
Meaning: The bamboo grass of Yabase in Ōmi—could I truly leave it without making it into arrows, when I long for it so?
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1350

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Grasses"
The speaker asks whether he could truly leave the bamboo grass of Yabase in Ōmi without making it into arrows, when he longs for it so. The bamboo grass stands for the woman he loves and making arrows of it for making her his own, expressing a heart that cannot help but fulfill its desire.
It is one of the poems on grasses. Like the preceding poem it sings of bamboo grass, but where that poem laments growing old, this one sings of a love that cannot be held back. Yabase is on the south shore of Lake Biwa in Ōmi. The poet is unknown.

In the first line, "In Ōmi land," "ya" is an interjectory particle that sets the rhythm.
The second line names the bamboo grass of Yabase, the same bamboo grass as in the last line of the preceding poem.
The third line, "not fletching arrows," refers to fitting bamboo with feathers to make arrows.
In the fourth line, "ya" is rhetorical: "could I truly let it be? Never." The line has an extra syllable.
The final line, "I who long for it so much," gives the reason for the fourth line by inversion.
Source: Manyoshu
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