Aoyagi no ito no kuwashisa harukaze ni midarenu ima ni misemu ko mo ga mo

青柳の糸のくはしさ春風に
乱れぬい間に見せむ子もがも

Roma-ji: Aoyagi no ito no kuwashisa harukaze ni midarenu ima ni misemu ko mo ga mo
English Translation: The green willow's threads—
oh, how lovely and how fine!
Before the spring wind
tangles them, if only I
had a girl to show them to!
Meaning: How fine and lovely are the threads of the green willow! If only I had a girl to show them to, before the spring wind tangles them.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1851

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Willows"
This poem wishes it had a beloved girl to whom it could show the beauty of the green willow's slender branches before the spring wind tangles them. It reveals a heart that, seeing something beautiful, seeks someone to share it with, echoing 1833, which longs to show "you" the snow on the plum. A faint loneliness at having no one to show it to can also be felt.

The first line, "of the green willow," refers to a willow freshly in leaf.
In the second line, "ito no kuwashisa," "ito," threads, likens the willow's slender branches to thread, and "kuwashi" means fine and lovely. It ends on a noun with a break after the second line, exclaiming at the beauty.
The third line, "by the spring wind," suggests the fear that the lovely branches will be disordered.
The fourth line, "before they are tangled," uses "ima," meaning interval, conveying the urgency of wishing to show this beauty now.
In the last line, "misemu ko mo ga mo," "mo ga mo" is a particle of wishing. It closes with the hope for a girl to show it to, tinged with the loneliness of having none.
Source: Manyoshu
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