Azusayumi hikite yurusazu aramaseba kakaru koi ni wa awazaramashi o

梓弓引きてゆるさずあらませば
かかる恋にはあはざらましを

Roma-ji: Azusayumi hikite yurusazu aramaseba kakaru koi ni wa awazaramashi o
English Translation: Like a catalpa bow
drawn taut and never slackened,
had I held firm so,
to a love as hard as this
I would never have been brought
Meaning: Had I held firm, like a catalpa bow drawn and never slackened, and not given my heart, I would never have met with a love like this.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2505

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Had she held firm and not given her heart, like a bow drawn taut and never slackened, she would never have met with so painful a love; the poem regrets having yielded. It is thought to be from the standpoint of a woman who accepted a suitor and gave her heart, and it conveys her brooding over love's pain.
This poem speaks through the catalpa bow, overlaying the drawing of a bow with being drawn by a lover's wooing. With the counterfactual construction "maseba... mashi," it laments the reality of not having held back.
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, "azusayumi": a pillow word attached to "hiki" (draw) in the second line. It refers to a bow made of catalpa wood and attaches because a bow is drawn.
Second line, "hikite yurusazu": "drawn and not slackened." The bow drawn taut and never loosened is overlaid with a heart not given. "Draw" and "slacken" are associated words of the bow.
Third line, "aramaseba": "if it had been so." "Mase," the irrealis of the auxiliary "mashi," with "ba" answers the "mashi" of the fifth line to form a counterfactual.
Fourth line, "kakaru koi ni wa": "to a love such as this." "Kakaru" points to the present painful love, which the binding particle "wa" singles out.
Fifth line, "awazaramashi o": "I would not have met, alas." The counterfactual "mashi," answering "maseba" in the third line, with the exclamatory "o," closes on regret at having given her heart.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Tokikinu no koi midaretsutsu uki manago ikite mo ware wa ari wataru kamo
Next Poem: Kotodama no yaso no chimata ni yūke tou ura masa ni noru imo wa aiyoramu