Kimi naku wa nazo mi yosowamu kushige naru tsuge no ogushi mo toramu tomo omowazu

君なくはなぞ身装はむ櫛笥なる
黄楊の小櫛も取らむとも思はず

Roma-ji: Kimi naku wa nazo mi yosowamu kushige naru tsuge no ogushi mo toramu tomo omowazu
English Translation: If you are not here,
why should I adorn myself?
In my comb-box lies
a small comb of boxwood, yet
I have no thought to take it up.
Meaning: Without you, why should I dress myself up? I have no wish even to take up the little boxwood comb that lies in my comb box.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems 1777

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems sent by the Maiden of Harima when Lord Ishikawa was transferred and went up to the capital"
With her beloved gone, the speaker has no wish to adorn herself, not even to take up the boxwood comb in her comb box. By naming the everyday comb, she makes concrete the loneliness of losing the one she loves.
This is the second of the Maiden of Harima's two poems. Where the first looks ahead to remembering him in spring, this one speaks of grief through the details of daily life.
The author, the Maiden of Harima, is otherwise unknown; some think she was a wandering entertainer of Harima. Lord Ishikawa is thought to be Ishikawa no Kimiko, who was governor of Harima in the Yōrō era.

The first line, "if you are not here," states the condition.
The second line, "why should I adorn myself?" is rhetorical, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "in my comb-box lies," names the box for combs.
The fourth line, "a small comb of boxwood, yet," names even the humble comb.
The final line, "I have no thought to take it up," has eight syllables. Against the preceding poem's close, "it is you I shall recall," this ends on a heart that has lost even the will to adorn itself.
Author: the Maiden of Harima
Source: Manyoshu
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