Akihagi ni koi tsukusaji to omoedomo shieya atarashi mata mo awame ya mo

秋萩に恋尽さじと思へども
しゑやあたらしまたも逢はめやも

Roma-ji: Akihagi ni koi tsukusaji to omoedomo shieya atarashi mata mo awame ya mo
English Translation: For autumn clover
I'll not spend my heart in love,
so I think, and yet—
oh, alas, how sad it is!
Will I ever meet it again?
Meaning: I tell myself I will not waste my heart in love for the autumn bush clover—and yet, ah, how precious it is! Will I ever meet it again?
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2120

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem laments that though the speaker resolves not to be so taken with the autumn bush clover, it is still precious, and wonders whether this flower will be met again. Regret for the falling clover appears as an intense feeling akin to love. It may also be read as likening the bush clover to a lover, grieving over a one-time encounter.

The first line, "for the autumn bush clover," names the object.
In the second line, "koi tsukusaji to," "ji" expresses negative intention: that I will not exhaust my love.
The third line, "though I think so," uses the adversative "domo."
In the fourth line, "shieya atarashi," "shieya" is an interjection of resignation and "atarashi" means precious, regrettable.
In the last line, "mata mo awame ya mo," "me ya mo" is rhetorical: will I meet it again? surely not.
Source: Manyoshu
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