Kokoro ni wa chie shikushiku ni omoedomo tsukai o yaramu sube no shiranaku

心には千重しくしくに思へども
使を遣らむすべの知らなく

Roma-ji: Kokoro ni wa chie shikushiku ni omoedomo tsukai o yaramu sube no shiranaku
English Translation: Within my own heart
a thousandfold, over and over,
though I think of you,
how to send a messenger,
the way to it I know not
Meaning: In my heart I think of you a thousandfold, over and over again, yet I do not know how I might send a messenger to you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2552

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
In the heart, the speaker longs for the beloved again and again, a thousandfold, yet laments not knowing how to send a messenger to convey those feelings. The poem frankly states the gap between the vastness of the feelings within and the frustration of being unable to deliver them.
Following "sube o nami" in the preceding poem, this poem places "sube no shiranaku" in its last line, linking laments of a love that has no means. And whereas poem 2543 in this book and poem 2548 are poems of someone waiting for a messenger, this poem is from the side of one who wishes to send a messenger but cannot, so that poems on messengers from differing positions are placed side by side.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "kokoro ni wa": "within my heart." The particle "wa" singles out the hidden inner heart and sets it against "tsukai o yaramu sube no shiranaku" in the second half.
Second line, "chie shikushiku ni": "a thousandfold, over and over." "Chie" means many layers, and "shikushiku ni" means piling up without pause, showing how the feelings accumulate.
Third line, "omoedomo": "though I think of you." The conjunctive particle "domo" marks a concession and leads into the lament of the second half.
Fourth line, "tsukai o yaramu": "I would send a messenger." The auxiliary "mu" expresses intention, showing the wish to convey one's feelings.
Fifth line, "sube no shiranaku": "I do not know the way." "Naku" is the nominalized form of the negative auxiliary "zu," closing the poem in a trailing tone of lament.
Source: Manyoshu
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