Kokoro ni wa chie ni omoedo hito ni iwanu aga koizuma o mimu yoshi mogamo

心には千重に思へど人に言はぬ
我が恋妻を見むよしもがも

Roma-ji: Kokoro ni wa chie ni omoedo hito ni iwanu aga koizuma o mimu yoshi mogamo
English Translation: Within my heart
I think of you a thousandfold,
yet I tell no one;
my love, my wife, oh that there were
some way that I might see you
Meaning: In my heart I think of her a thousand times over, yet I tell no one of her, my beloved wife; oh, if only there were some way to see her.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2371

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Thinking of her again and again in his heart, yet revealing her to no one, the speaker longs for some means to meet his beloved wife. Because the love must be hidden from others it cannot be spoken, and the pain of feelings that only pile up within is stated frankly.
The headnote continues from the preceding poem, "Expressing One's Feelings Directly." By setting "in my heart" against "I tell no one," the poem brings out both the depth of the hidden feeling and the frustration of being unable to show it. It is a love poem about a wife visited in secret, unknown to others.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kokoro ni wa": "within my heart." The particle "wa" singles out the inner heart, setting it apart from an outward manner that cannot show it.
Second line, "chie ni omoedo": "though I think of you a thousandfold." "Chie," a thousand layers, shows the depth of feeling, and "do" is a concessive particle.
Third line, "hito ni iwanu": "I tell no one." A line with an extra syllable, it shows that this is a love to be kept from others.
Fourth line, "aga koizuma o": "koizuma" means a beloved wife, here one met in secret. Together with the third line it forms one phrase: "my beloved wife, of whom I tell no one."
Fifth line, "mimu yoshi mogamo": "oh that there were some way to see her." "Yoshi" means a means or way, and "mogamo" is a final particle of wishing.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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