Kono hana no hitoyo no uchi wa momokusa no koto machikanete oraekerazu ya

この花の一節のうちは百種の
言待ちかねて折らえけらずや

Roma-ji: Kono hana no hitoyo no uchi wa momokusa no koto machikanete oraekerazu ya
English Translation: Within these blossoms,
this single spray of them,
a hundred kinds of
words it could not bear, and so
was it not broken off?
Meaning: This single spray of blossoms: unable to bear the weight of a hundred kinds of words, was it not broken off?
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Love Poems 1457

Headnote: "A poem by the maiden in reply"
Answering Fujiwara no Hirotsugu's claim in the preceding poem that a hundred kinds of words were hidden in a single spray, the maiden retorts that with so many words loaded onto it, the branch must have been unable to bear them and snapped. It is a witty reply that lightly deflects his extravagant language.
The author is identified in the headnote only as "a maiden," and her name is not known. She was the woman to whom Hirotsugu sent the cherry blossoms.

The first line takes up the first line of the preceding poem unchanged.
The second line also answers "within a single spray" of the preceding poem, changing the particle to "wa" to set the theme of her reply.
The third line repeats the words of the preceding poem as well, tracing his words one by one as she answers.
The fourth line, judging from the original characters meaning "unable to hold," is understood as "unable to bear the weight of the words."
The final line adds the rhetorical "ya" to the passive "rayu" and past "keri," asking back whether it was not broken off.
Source: Manyoshu
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