Itsuwari mo nitsukite zo suru itsu yori ka minu hito kou ni hito no shini seshi

偽りも似つきてぞするいつよりか
見ぬ人恋ふに人の死せし

Roma-ji: Itsuwari mo nitsukite zo suru itsu yori ka minu hito kou ni hito no shini seshi
English Translation: Even when you lie,
you should make the lie fit well;
since when, tell me now,
for love of one never seen
has anyone ever died?
Meaning: Even a lie should be made to sound plausible. Since when has anyone died of longing for someone they have never even met?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2572

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
To a man who has written that he is dying of love for her though they have never met, the woman retorts that if he must lie, he should at least make the lie believable. Teasing his exaggerated words, she shows a spirited heart that will not accept them lightly.
It belongs to the category "Expressing One's Feelings Directly" and takes the form of a rebuttal to the other's words. Dying of love is a common hyperbole in Man'yoshu love poetry, and this witty poem turns that very convention against the suitor.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "itsuwari mo": "even a lie." The particle "mo" carries the sense of "even if it is a lie."
Second line, "nitsukite zo suru": "one makes it fitting." It closes in the attributive form "suru" in agreement with the particle "zo," and the poem pauses after the second line.
Third line, "itsu yori ka": "since when?" The particle "ka" marks a question, used rhetorically to mean that such a thing has never happened.
Fourth line, "minu hito kou ni": "through longing for one never seen." It takes up the man's claim just as he made it.
Fifth line, "hito no shini seshi": "has a person died?" It closes in "shi," the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki," in agreement with "ka" in the third line.
Source: Manyoshu
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